Is MSD the greatest limited overs captain ever?

We all know pictures say a lot more than words. So, sample the following

Year 2007

Year 2009

Year 2010

Year 2011

Year 2011

Year 2013

Now, having seen the achievements by this leader, let us also see what ODI statistics say about this captain? Where does he stand among the great captains of all-time?

The table above shows the list of captains and their records. Clearly, Dhoni is not high on the pecking order but then there is another question that comes to mind. What made these captains ranked higher than Dhoni win more? Let us look at this list more closely (applying a filter of 75 matches to analyse in detail) - the ones (higher than Dhoni) in the list are the following (in the order of the countries they played for):

1. Clive Lloyd (1975-85) - One would say that all Lloyd had to do was toss the ball and whoever got it would start opening the bowling - such was the force of the Windies that every team that stood in its way got decimated.
2. Viv Richards (1980-1991) - Viv Richards was the successor and he managed to repeat much of what Lloyd did till the fag end of his career as a captain when his bowlers were not much of a force.
3. Steve Waugh (1997-2002) - Steve Waugh played a long time under Alan Border (who comes just below MSD in this list) and thus inherited an Australian team that would go on to perform great deeds
4. Ricky Ponting (2002-12) - Ponting acquired the mantle from Waugh and took Australian cricket to greater heights. This included multiple World Cup wins as well as Champions Trophy win. No doubt a great captain who led a great side.
5. Hansie Cronje (1994-2000) - Hansie Cronje was the shrewdest captain that South Africa had after their re-introduction to international cricket. Cronje made the Proteans start believing till a match-fixing scandal broke him and his team.
6. Shaun Pollock (2000-2005) - Shaun Pollock picked up the threads left by Cronje's untimely departure and nurtured the team with the help of individual geniuses like Jonty Rhodes, Alan Donald, Gary Kirsten and Jacques Kallis.
7. Greame Smith (2003-2011) - Smith was introduced to captaincy very early by his management. Captaincy was as natural as water to duck but he could not win any major tournament just like Pollock despite having a good team at disposal.

There is no doubt that these players have done well in their captaincy career but they also had the added advantage of a great squad at their disposal. The Windies (1980-2000) and Australians (2000-2010) were the champion sides of the decade - the other teams could only play catch-up with them. The South Africans were good but other than the first version of the Champions Trophy, they could hardly win a title at the international level.

What makes Dhoni different and better (in my humble reasoning) is that he has managed to lead Indian teams that were not so great to title wins in conditions that were adverse (T20 in South Africa as well as Champions Trophy in England). Yes, he did win the 2011 World Cup on familiar conditions with a team comprising the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and co. but that is not an one-off win in his resume. 

Let us look at the teams that he has won the international titles with:

The 2013 Champions Trophy had only three other players who had played the 2011 World Cup while there were three others who had played the 2007 T20 World Cup. A good nucleus for a side that showed how hungry they were on the field as well as demonstrated a brave front to the short and seaming stuff they faced with their bat.

With the T20 World Cup win, came the birth of IPL and Dhoni has shown that he can lead a team of international players and groom them to similar victories. Dhoni has shown that his captaincy can win matches for his team irrespective of conditions, coaches, form, teams, nationalities, personal issues. The Champions Trophy came with Dhoni contributing only 27 runs to the team's cause. Speak to any cricketer who has played under him and he has the same message - the way Dhoni supports him even when he is not in form makes wonders. Let it be Joginder Sharma, Ishant Sharma or even Albie Morkel.

Dont you think it is a valid assumption to take that MS Dhoni is the greatest captain ever in the limited overs format? Do let me know your comments.

All images are courtesy espncricinfo.com

Whats wrong with Australia?

Consider this

• Four players get suspended from a test match because they did not submit their homework. 
• An ex-player held back the news of his retirement because he was afraid that he might be dropped.
• An official speaks openly about one of the Famous Four - stating that he is not a 'team player'. The player in question responds saying that the official didnt know him well enough.

Remember Simon Katich and his bust-up with the captain?

Whatever be the reason for the open fight, it is unprecedented in the history of cricket. Other countries who are notoriously famous for their internal team rivalries will be chuckling away to glory. This is the ultimate test therefore for the players in the playing eleven at Mohali - after Day 1, it looks like some of the reinforcements (Smith and Haddin) have done well. The skipper is obviously not happy as he promoted to No.3 and got stumped the very first ball!

The previous Oz captains used to be tough on the opponents (Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting and co) while enjoying great relationships internally. But, now, the aggression has swapped sides - the Aussie team members seem to have good relations with the Indian cricketers while internally, they seem to be in a mess! 

Is the new mantra of the team to be "nice"on the field? 

Is there a problem with the coach? Many questions to be answered in the middle of a test series overseas. Really tough!

World Cup 2011 - Learnings from 87 and 96

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The 2011 World Cup will be the third time the competition is being conducted in the Indian sub-continent. Is there anything the teams can learn from the first two editions - 1987 and 1996 - and apply as part of their strategies? Australia reached the finals of both the versions winning in 87 (against England) and losing to Sri Lanka in 96.

What happened in the 1987 World Cup? Australia and England reached the finals by defeating the co-hosts (Pakistan and India respectively). The batting was bolstered mainly by the opening batsmen on both sides. David Boon and Geoff Marsh were the top run-getters in the tournament scoring more than 400 runs at an average of 55+ every match. There were good contributions by Dean Jones and Allan Border down the order while Mike Veletta and Steve Waugh were good in rotating the strike in the final overs as well as hitting the ball out of the park. This phase marked the initial stages of the Australian resurgence in World cricket after the slump post retirements of Dennis Lillee, Greg Chappell, Rodney Marsh. Under Bob Simpson, the team was beginning to discover themselves at the World stage and there was no major hopes on the team before the World Cup.

Craig McDermott was one of the bowling stalwarts picking 18 wickets during the tournament, troubling batsmen with his pace and control. He was ably supported by bowlers who would pioneer the use of slower ball in ODI matches - Steve Waugh and Simon O'Donnell. During most of the matches, Waugh would be the one who would operate the slog overs of the match - with his variety, he could control the scoring of the opposing batsmen very well. Border with his part-time spin would chip in few overs, taking up critical wickets at a decent run-rate.

England similarly had Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting in their lineup who contributed more than 350 runs in the tournament while Lamb and Athey gave good support down the order. In fact, the final was going the way of England when Gatting tried a reverse-sweep against Alan Border to get out. Gatting and Lamb were equally adept in rotating the strike to keep the scorecard ticking. Gooch was instrumental in negating the spinners on the sub-continental pitches during this World Cup - his century against the Indians in the semi-final was a masterpiece on how to attack spin and turn tables on the more famed Indian spinners. Eddie Hemmings and Phil DeFreitas were the strike bowlers from the English team who provided the crucial breakthroughs.

The current Oz team is placed in a similar situation as this 87 Cup-winning team was, if one considers the Ashes performance (though they have achieved good strides in the ODI arena) - will they win it a fourth consecutive time? Similarly, the current English team has Greame Swann and Jimmy Anderson as the spearheads - will they don the role of Hemmings and Defreitas? Swann has been injured after the Ashes series - it remains to be seen how quickly he can return to mainstream cricket. Anderson looks jaded in the ongoing ODI series against Australia (last evening, he gave away 91 runs in his 10 overs - a century!!!)

What happened in the 1996 World Cup? Sri Lanka and Australia reached the finals by defeating co-hosts India and West Indies respectively. It was the turn of Mark Waugh to score heavily (even though Sachin raked up more runs than him). Waugh opened the innings in all the matches with captain Mark Taylor and ensured that Australia had a good start always. There were few contributions down the order from Ponting, Steve Waugh, Stuart Law but not all as consistent as Junior Waugh. No wonder, they fell at the final Lankan hurdle. Damian Fleming and Shane Warne took the maximum number of wickets by contrasting ways. Fleming used to swing the ball, especially under lights while Warne found the subcontinental grounds to his liking. Mcgrath was at his miserly best but could not add much in the wickets tally.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, also got off to quick starts through their crack combination of Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana - they formed a potent partnership at the top of the order scoring runs at rate of 8-10 in the first 6-7 overs. The opposition bowling would get rattled and lose their composure. This would be then captialised on, by the likes of Aravinda de Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga and Asanka Gurusinha. Their batting used to run deep with Mahanama coming at No.7 while their bowling revolved around spin. The wickets taken by the SriLankan spinners hardly goes more than seven wickets (in 6 matches) but their run-choking efforts had to be seen to be believed. Murali, Vaas conceded less than 4 runs an over in the tournament while Jayasuriya, Dharmasena and Aravinda de Silva together conceded less than 4.5 runs on an overage. On Lankan grounds, this team knew how exactly to rattle the opposition and keep them quiet. Their strategy was very well devised and execution was perfect. Will they repeat the strategy this team also?

Toss will play a very vital role in the matches played in Sri Lanka with teams batting first more often than not, winning the matches after posting a decent score. Murali is bowing out of international cricket after the World Cup - will it be his swanswong? He has Mendis, Herath & Dilshan to support him in the slow bowling options while Matthews is known to be a wily customer with the ball. The magic of Mendis has worn off slightly but to teams that havent played him, he is still a mystery. At home, it has been only the Indians who have put up good displays in the Emerald Isle. One match in the Quarter-final and one semi-final will be played in Colombo - can Sri Lanka qualify for these matches and continue the home advantage? 

I feel that it is important to have quality opening batsmen in every team for them to have a chance to win the title. India have Sehwag and Sachin, Bangladesh has Tamim Iqbal, Sri Lanka have Dilshan, West Indies' Chris Gayle, South Africa's Amla and Smith, Australia's Watson, England's Strauss. Definitely India and South Africa seem to have the edge over the others in this aspect. 

What do you think? Can some of the lessons from these editions be adapted to the 2011 version? If so, which ones?

Related articles

• Australia have an outside chance, says Steve Waugh (espncricinfo.com)
• World Cup 2011 - How will teams innovate? (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)

Ashes series - Tame end to Brisbane test match

The First Test of the Ashes ended in a tame draw but not before a clear message was sent to the host team about its inability to take twenty wickets. They were helped by the bowling of Siddle on the first day of the test but in the second innings on the last two days of a test match that had a bit of rough, they drew a blank (The only wicket being taken by a part-time bowler). Australia would have given their everything to have a bowler who has half the ability of a Shane Warne or Glenn Mcgrath in their playing eleven but the truth is that they dont make such bowlers any more. Agreed that the wicket was not helping the bowlers in a big way - there was no innovation by the captain also in these circumstances. Ponting realized that he could not get wickets like the old ages and went back to the traditional approach followed by hundreds of captains in the game.

Aside Siddle's bowling display, Michael Hussey and Brad Haddin stood out in this test match with a rearguard display without which this test would have surely gone the English way. The Oz team management must be worried about the manner Clarke gets pinged on the helmet regularly these days. North will get a century in one of the subsequent test matches but that will not be enough. Shane Watson and Simon Katich are the ones who have been consistent in the days where the performance (and subsequently the ICC rankings) of the team has gone down - they were a bit inconsistent in this test match however. Overall, the Aussie batting does not give a comfort feel to their supporters and there is always an impression that the innings closure is just one dismissal away to start. The bowlers need to put up a better display in the next test matches if the Australian team harbors any hope of regaining the Ashes. Mitchell Johnson is on a downward spiral and a rest will probably give him a new dose of inspiration. Doherty tried his best but that was nowhere near the performance that could get even a couple of wickets, forget running through the innings. The fielding was also below-par, indicating that there were more issues for the think-tank to look at. With a strong opposition attack, the curators might be thinking of providing a pitch that suits a run-feast - this might be again a ploy that will backfire on the Aussies.

England made up for their first innings display very quickly with their bowling display. The H2 (Hussey-Haddin) partnership revived the hopes of the home team but the English closed the innings once they got through the partnership. Then came the memorable partnerships with the bat - Strauss must be cursing himself for having got out. If he had not succumbed to the wide ball of the occasional bowler, the scorecard could have very well read 517 for no loss. Alistair Cook and Trott made sure that the English domination went on for another 2 sessions on the last day. That was the extent of the domination caused by the English batsmen in the second innings. This batting display must have given the ex-English players (commentators like Nasser Hussain, David Gower, Ian Botham) a sense of revenge for the treatment they received from a certain Steve Waugh in the late 80s and early 90s. The bowlers did a fair job in the match but need to continue the same display if the team wants to have a favorable result in the next test. Swann was assaulted by Hussey in the first innings but very soon, the bowler managed to settle down his nerves. Even though he did not get the success he is usuallly associated with, he will be a bigger threat to the Aussies as the series progresses.

The series is 0-0 after one test match. My previous prediction still stands - the English are 55-45 ahead of their rivals.

Related articles

• Aussies consider bowling changes (news.bbc.co.uk)
• The Ashes 2010: England head to Adelaide with psychological ascendancy | Vic Marks (guardian.co.uk)
• James Lawton: Psychological victory is England's as Strauss and Cook tear into Johnson (independent.co.uk)

Batsmen with more than 9000 runs

Thanks to the information available on Cricinfo website and Google's gadgets, I could create a gadget that shows the way each of the Great batsmen reached 9000 runs and beyond. Finally, there is just one person who stays on the chart - no points for guessing who - SACHIN TENDULKAR!!!



Feel free to try out various options on the chart and see how the comparison works.

The best way is to see the #Innings, Alphabetic order of batsmen, Average on each of the three axis - this is a good way to see who was faster to the milestones.

Updated the chart for players till matches held until 10th August 2010