MS Dhoni's uncharacteristic pessimism bodes ill for Team India

MS Dhoni is known to be an easy-going cricketer. While in the past he has exuded intensity on the field, Dhoni's positive outlook has always been hailed as one of his better qualities. During India's best run under Dhoni, this was also described as a reason for the team's good performances.

But times have changed and India have put in one poor performance after another Down Under. As the high-voltage Indo-Pakistan encounter looms large, India have won just one game in Australia all season - a warm-up against lowly Afghanistan. A new-look batting order and a bowling lineup that several club sides would negotiate with ease have not helped India's cause at all. But the gloom has intensified because of Dhoni's own pessimistic - some would say even lacklustre - attitude over the past several weeks.

As the media goes gaga over Kohli and calls him the next Indian captain, Dhoni seems to be merely going through the motions, doing his job like a placeholder would. That India have a very slim chance of retaining their trophy in Australia is not lost on anyone, but unlike the past, Dhoni has been almost accepting of this theory even in public. 

Let's look at some of the most recent comments Dhoni has been making.

India were gifted an ODI series Down Under before the World Cup, but Dhoni chose to view it like practice for the big event. India were conspicuously conservative in their approach to the tri series, resting Rohit Sharma as soon as he seemed to have caught an injury, not opting to push Ravindra Jadeja and Ishant Sharma, and holding back Bhuvneshwar Kumar all series. While all the above mentioned players had genuine injuries (with Ishant eventually dropping out of the World Cup), there was a sense of protectiveness which has rare precedent in the Indian side. There has also been poor communication to the media about these injuries, raising more doubts in our minds. We seem to have woken up to every India match only to find out about yet another injury.

Dhoni comments on the issue have been interesting. "Experimentation is a word that's banned in the Indian team's context since a long time. We try to feature the best eleven and at the same time, we like to get a lot of positives out of the game. At the same time, what's the point looking to win games where you are pushing an individual who has quite a significant niggle. You may end up winning the game but you may end up losing him for the World Cup. You have to take a call. So close to the World Cup, there is no time for errors when it comes to actually managing the players because we want the fifteen to be part of the World Cup squad," he said.

It was almost as if Dhoni knew that apart from these players, he had few other options, so he had to preserve them as much as he could. 

Dhoni had no convincing answer when questioned about India's tame exit from the tri-series, blaming it on 'injuries and niggles'. Then, he conceded that his batting order may not be good enough to score big even in the last 10 overs. 

"It will be important for most of us to capitalise on starts, have wickets in hand and look to exploit because the middle-order batting will be crucial. We might not get 100-120 runs in the last 10 overs every time, we might be restricted to just 80-odd," stated the beleagured Indian captain.

Interestingly, Dhoni's pessimism about the Indian batting led him to make an almost contradictory statement. "We are not that deep when it comes to batting and are different to other teams. Wickets in hands is our strength and once we have wickets in hand we can really exploit the conditions. You have to pick options and learn to score runs freely". 

So India need to keep wickets in hand in the initial overs and then the team may not able to score freely in the last 10? Moreover, this batting order would bring any bowling side to its knees in the subcontinent (and has done so in the past). India are traditionally a strong batting side. For a captain to concede that the team's purported strength is not for real in Australia is a significant step back. 

In Saturday's press conference, Dhoni was understandably irritated with repeated questions about India's 5-0 record against Pakistan in World Cups. But he vehemently refused to 'discount' India's win against Afghanistan in a warm up game. It might show the captain's desperation to look at positives in a campaign that has failure written all over it. Keep in mind that India did not manage to bowl out even Afghanistan, with the rookie side losing 8 wickets for 211 in their 50 overs.

Dhoni has also time and again reiterated that the team is still looking for its best XI. The World Cup is upon us and India are still not entirely sure if the team they have been playing for such a long season is the best one. 

Moreover, Dhoni's own batting form has not been upto the mark.

Dhoni seems to be preparing Indian fans for the worst. There is an air of resignation around him which has no precedent. His body language is likely the worst we have ever seen. No other team member has really had the inspiration to contradict him either. 

But is the captain's pessimism not merely unusual but also indicative of bigger turmoil? There were whispers about Dhoni falling foul of the BCCI during the Australia test series and the World Cup selections. There have been rumours of a rift between Dhoni and Virat Kohli. The ODI captain's sudden retirement from Test cricket was also viewed with suspicion by some.

Sidelined BCCI chief N Srinivasan, with whom Dhoni shares a very healthy equation, has been cut to size by the Supreme Court in the IPL fixing scandal. Speculation also abounds whether Dhoni is part of the list of 13 players indicted by the Mudgal committee in the IPL scam. Even in this case, the right-hander seems resigned to facing relentless barbs from the media. "I know one thing, irrespective of what is there, when it comes to Indian cricket, my name keeps popping up. Now that this has been settled, something new will pop up. It keeps popping up. I am quite used to it," Dhoni said ahead of a tri-series match against Australia.

In conclusion, all is not well with MS Dhoni, who seems almost incapable of inspiring India to a spirited World Cup performance unlike what he has achieved in the past. Whether for on-field reasons or off-field ones, Dhoni's heart no longer seems to be in it.