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

World Cup 2011 - On to the Semi finals

Two ten-wicket wins and two incredibly close matches - that sums up the four quarter-finals that were played in the 2011 World Cup.

West Indies were always in contention with Ireland and Bangladesh for the final slot in the quarterfinals. That itself showed their current form and capabilities. Over-dependence on Gayle in the batting front and Roach in the bowling department meant that they were always at the mercy of their opponents. Their coach, Gibson blamed the senior players for not putting their hands up during the match against Pakistan. Gayle was furious and tweeted his response back. There are going to be changes in the team following the disaster which is not surprising. The team morale was not high and one can see the same players play the IPL with great camaraderie. The unity that was on display during the times of Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards are missing altogether. It will be a long time before the team makes a decent comeback into international cricket. They will struggle to beat top nations for a while, as has been in the last 20 months.

England also had a severe bashing at the hands of the Sri Lankans last night - no one was surprised though. The English had managed to stumble their way to the quarterfinals and clearly had to depend on other teams' generosity to make the cut. Injuries to several players hampered them and the media were quick to point out the grueling schedule that the team had to endure over the last six months. It has been the same with the other teams as well, one can say. The English team's strategy in ODI cricket is far from adequate - notice the experience of the players in this format for further insight. 

Australia came into the tournament being ranked No.1 in ODI, as per ICC rankings. Though the rank did not justify them, the team was able to string together victories that enabled them stay at the peak for a long period. Injuries to players (mostly bowlers) meant that there were frequent changes to the playing eleven. It was not noticed as long as they were winning. Ponting's loss of form coincided with the lack of batting might in the Oz team. Watson and Haddin were probably the most consistent players for the last one year. After the retirements of a number of greats (like Mcgrath, Warne, Gilchrist), the Aussies were never able to recover. The loss of Warne left a gaping hole in the spin department - this was one of the biggest concerns going into the tournament which was expected to support the spinners.

South Africa prepared their campaign very well, adding a number of spinners to their squad who were capable of standing up to the demands of the subcontinental pitches. Imran Tahir was the surprise weapon, who showed initial promise of picking up a bushel of wickets. Opening the bowling with a spinner and Steyn, Greame Smith had a good strategy in place. They beat the Indians due to the help of their lower order, assuring everyone that they had left their choking back in Africa. Kallis and Smith were not firing in the first few games but it did not matter. The other batsmen were showing good form in bringing the team to the knockout stage. One great catch followed by a runout in the Quarterfinals meant that the cat was among the pigeons. No matter what the lower order tried, the writing was on the wall. The Proteas had choked once again - they cannot deny this any longer. This stigma will stick to them for another four years or till the time they win a knockout match in the World Cup.

On to the semi-finals then with three subcontinental pitches along with New Zealand contesting for the final match in Mumbai. May the best team win.       

World Cup 2011 - Last group match for India

On Sunday, India play the last group match against West Indies at Chennai, a track that will favor them. They have already played one of the warm-up matches (against New Zealand) here and won it convincingly. Castrol Index rates both the teams closely (159-154) but that might not be the case tomorrow. India has the arsenal in their team to put a strong display but whether they actually do it, remains to be seen.

Thanks to Bangladesh's capitulation against South Africa today, the Indian team is assured of a Quarter-final berth irrespective of the result of the match. The scenarios of who will be their opponent is also clear. At the time of writing this post, Pakistan are coasting against Australia in their final match. This only means that the Indians will face either Australia (if they beat Windies) or Sri Lanka at Ahmedabad on the 24th.

MS Dhoni has hinted during his press conference today that both Raina and Ashwin were playing the match tomorrow. Sehwag also might be rested to ensure that he is fit for the latter games. It will also give the Indians a chance to play both Raina and Kohli in the match. Viv Richards put pressure on the Indians by giving his opinion that India may not be capable to win the World Cup - is he playing mind games?

The Indians have their last chance to get their team right and their strategy sorted out for the knock-out matches. Hope they can utilize it to the maximum and get their campaign back on track.

PS - This article illustrates another facet of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar - playing blindfold in his nets practice. Interesting!

SA Series - AB leads the way with his comments

AB De Villiers is regarded as many to be the danger-man for India to watch out for - not the only man in a team containing many stars. So, it was logical that the man in reckoning started his comments on the visiting Indian team:

There's been this feeling and stats show it, that their batters score bigger and they generally perform better at home -- which is normal. This will be a big test for them. There's always been the label that they struggle in South Africa

He goes all the way to even question the legitimacy of the Indian No.1 status in case they lose the series

If they don't have success here, there'll definitely be a question mark about their No. 1 ranking

 Speaking of the No.1 ranking, ex-captain of the English team, Michael Vaughan, thinks that the current English team can go all the way to the top and dethrone the Indians. Wishful thanking, Mike - the English have beaten the Aussies twice at home - what has happened after? Nothing much to show or tell outside. 

Back to South Africa - the hosts' coach says that they have plans for Sehwag - havent we heard this before? It is time someone told the coach that SA is one of the two countries against whom Viru has scored a triple. After his debut ton, Viru has not been in the greatest nick in South Africa but knowing him, he will be keen to get the record straight.

Sehwag's idol, Sachin Tendulkar, continues to be regarded by ex-cricketers as one of a kind. Viv Richards being the latest addition in the long list of players who rate him to be the best in the world. The TIME magazine has ranked his double hundred in ODI as one of the top 10 sporting moments in the world - the Master Blaster has the USA taking notice now.

Related articles

• SA series - Dravid and Rice to the fore (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• SA series - sound-bites have started already (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• SA series - right moves made by the Indian team (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• Smith, Amla in South Africa Test squad (thehimalayantimes.com)

Sachin and Dravid take the match further at Mirpur

Image by Dhammika Heenpella / Images of Sri Lanka via Flickr

Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar took India to the brink of an innings victory in the 2nd test at Mirpur.

Rahul Dravid was admitted to the hospital after he was hit by a short ball - the last time I remember such an incident was in Adelaide. Other than this incident, the batting and the luck associated with the Indian team was all with the visitors.

The Indians scored at a fair clip with the 2 veterans scoring centuries that must have not rated very high on their career but nevertheless they are test runs & that is how they approached the game - scoring runs to ensure that the Indians do not get into the over-confidence thinking mode again.

The openers put on another century stand and it was sad to see Gautam Gambhir get out after his half-century - it is doubtful that he will get a chance to bat in the 2nd innings and hence would not be able to match Sir Donald Bradman. He however, got his opportunity to score a 50+ score for 11 consecutive matches like another Great, Sir Viv Richards. I will not get into the argument or discussion of who is better or whose runs are better. This is scope for another day.

The one surprise today was the absence of Yuvraj Singh - is he hiding any injury is the question on everyone's mind. Murali Vijay scored 30 but could not carry on further - a lost opportunity on a possible hundred.

What next? The Indians will score another 50-75 runs to get to a lead of 300 runs. Then, in the 2nd hour of the day, the Bangladesh team will start their 2nd innings in a state of pressure. They will not be able to survive the remaining overs of the day. So, overall, a 3-day test match in offing.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Gambhir puts India on course for another win (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• India suffers from over-confidence (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• Bangladesh trip up India as Shakib Al Hasan sparks collapse (guardian.co.uk)