Dhoni - My way or the highway

About 2 years ago, I had written an article on Dhoni's courage and his strange ways.

 Dhoni's strange ways

This article was written before India's 2011 world cup victory. Since then India has lost many series. The team's form has gone from bad to worse. And there is no end in sight.

Former players, selectors and cricket experts are asking for Dhoni's head but all we hear is some promises made by Dhoni. What is happening? Let us try to dissect the current state of affairs.

Is Dhoni still a good leader? I think so. He stands by his players and his decisions. He usually does not find fault with system.
Has his courage deserted him? No, but he has become autocratic and has started thinking that he is right and others are wrong.
Should there be a change in leadership? Maybe, selectors would know better but they should not be influenced by BCCI's managing committee. Maybe they can give a break to Dhoni for upcoming Australia series.
What is the solution? There are number of things that can be done but firstly selection should be left to selectors; Dhoni and/or BCCI's managing committee should have no role in it.
Are there any other reasons for recent defeats? I think coaching staff is not up to the par. Read an article which I wrote about a year ago  Can this be the reason for India's recent performances?

Read another article which highlights Dhoni's role. Undaunted despite defeat

As a fan I can only hope that India goes back to winning ways soon...

Can this be the reason for India's recent performances?

The Indian team went to SA just before the World Cup 2011 and put up a decent show against one of the best teams in world cricket today. The SA show was followed by World Cup triumph.

However, India's cricket team has had an horrendous run in recent past. An average show in WI (one of the lower ranked teams in test cricket), abysmal show in England and Australia. So, what could be reason(s) for string of unceremonious defeats, nay, abject surrender?

Think about it the team, the captain, support staff and (of course) BCCI's whimsical ways have all remained same. The team has the required pedigree. If I think about it only one major change has happened after SA tour - change in coach.

Only time will tell if this is the real reason...

Analysis 2010 continued

ICC T20 World Cup 2010

This is a followup post to my last post Analysis 2010 on potential weakness of each team playing in the Super 8.

Why can SL lose?

• They are not looking like the side they were last year
• In both their group games they lacked intensity
• No other batsman apart from Jayawardene has fired

 Why can Australia lose?

• They have been inconsistent. They performed well against Pakistan but lost the track against Bangladesh.
• So far they have an extremely poor record in T20. Read my earlier post Australian Team is favourite

Why can India lose?

• The dreaded C word - Complacency. They are the champions or so the Indian Media and fans think.
• The weakness from last world cup might haunt them again - short pitched bouncers.

Why can WI lose?

• The dreaded I word - Inconsistency.

Evey team has chinks in its armour. And in T20 form on the match day matters more than anything else. However, I think it will be extremely difficult for NZ, Pakistan and SL to reach the semis.

Analysis 2010

ICC T20 World Cup 2010

This post is similar to my last year's post on second edition of ICC T20 World cup.

Analyze this

Like in last year's post I have analyzed what chinks hinder a team to not go on and win the tournament. I am writing this post just before the start of Super 8s. We have had a look at teams' form while teams have had a look at weather and ground conditions.

According to Lardbrokes, at the time of writing, Australia are still favourites with odds at 3. In fact they have improved their odds since tournament beginning. India and SA hold the next 2 positions with odds at 4 and 5 respectively. Also look at my last post

Australian Team is favourite

Let us see why a team can lose.

Why can Pakistan lose?

• The dreaded I word - Inconsistency. One their day they are world beaters and another day they are worse than a club cricket team.
• Nothing remains permanent in Pakistan cricket - They have a new captain who has a history of being on the wrong side of cricket administration and a new team which is low on experience.
• Batting looks weak as compared to other teams.

They can take heart from the fact that their batting fought hard against Australian bowling.

Why can NZ lose?

• The dreaded D word - They are perennial Dark Horses. They raise the expectations of their fans by giving a good fight but never go on and win a big tournament.
• They are a formidable unit but they struggled against lackadaisical SL.

Why can SA lose?

• The dreaded C word - They are not called Chokers for nothing. They inspire hope, excitement and confidence till they lose at the final frontier.
• They were unable to put up a decent fight against India team who were missing key players. Their batsmen struggled against part-time spinners.
• They were unable to put up a decent total against a inexperienced bowling attack of Afghanistan.

Why can England lose?

• The dreaded F word - They are a formidable unit but at the same time fickle in nature. They played well against WI only going on to lose due to DL system but against Ireland their batting failed miserably. And this time DL system helped them to post a win.
• Their country is the home of cricket but till now they beli all expectations of their fans in major competitions.

 Watch out for my next post for rest of the analysis.

Analyze this

Cricket is analysed on many fronts. In fact it is studied, examined, scrutinized and dissected from many angles before nothing notable is left. To a ardent fan the game is more than a religion and your man is no exception. ICC T20 World Cup has also been analyzed from many angles.

1. Who will win the Cup?
2. What 4 teams will reach semis?
3. What happened to Australia?
4. Is T20 a fun game?
5. What is the future of test matches?
6. etc.

Has anyone analyzed why a team would not win if at all they would not win? I think the title of this post should have been 'Analyze that'...

At the time of writing this post we are through with the first day's play of Super 8s. SA beat England while NZ beat Ireland.

Why India can lose?

• The dreaded F word - Yes, fatigue more mental than physical as they have been away from home and the country for so long. Zaheer has just recovered, Sehwag is out and captain is no longer cool (losing his temper too frequently).
• Bowling at death - Even after being 8 down Ireland could steal few runs.
• Not been tested in the tournament so far - Even Pakistan gave them a win on the platter in a warm up

Why SA can lose?

• The dreaded C word - They are not called Chokers for nothing. They inspire hope, excitement and confidence till they lose at the final frontier.
• Loosing their way while batting - They made 128 while batting against a depleted NZ side and today they huffed and puffed toward a small target of 113 against England.

Why NZ can lose?

• The dreaded D word - They are perennial Dark Horses. They raise the expectations of their fans by giving a good fight but ...
• Their best players are of the team are battling injuries

Why Pakistan can lose?

• The dreaded I word - Inconsistency. One their day they are world beaters and another day they are worse than a club cricket team
• 'It is a fun game'. Or so their captain thinks
• Nothing remains permanent in Pakistan cricket - Captains change, coaches change, administration change, players change and on top of everything their strategies towards the game change.

Why WI can lose?

• Have you seen them winning anything in this decade?

Why England can lose?

• Well they are the hosts, aren't they. If they can give opening day match to Netherlands on a platter, they should not have reached Super 8s. I am sure English fans could give many more reasons.

What ever may be the root cause of future potential defeats, a team that performs on the day and hold their nerve will win the match. It is T20 cricket - if Australia can go out so can everybody else...