Captain cool scales yet another peak
Mahendra Singh Dhoni may have ended up on the losing side but his personal contributions to the team’s fortunes have skyrocketed in the last one year. On Friday, the elegant right-hander scored his sixth century in one-dayers, a well-made 107 in 111 balls and in the process joined Australian skipper Ricky Ponting as the highest run-getter in one-day internationals in 2009. The 28-year-old’s tally of 1198 runs in 28 games this year have helped the team clinch ODI series in Sri Lanka (the one-day series in February and the Compaq Cup in September), New Zealand (five-match series in February) and in West Indies (four-match series in June).
The pundits believe that Dhoni’s impeccable understanding of the match situation helps him to adapt to the game in a quick manner. “He is a good judger of the singles and keeps rotating the strike briskly. He also has the capacity to hit those huge sixes that soars the score,†said Sunil Gavaskar in Nagpur.
On his own form this year, Dhoni said, “If my records are good, it means I have done well for sure. The batting side has a second Powerplay in one-dayers which helps batsmen who bat down the order to score runs quickly.â€
The Indian skipper has batted at different spots in batting line-up, an approach which has not gone down well with the experts. “I have batted in different positions. The batting order changes due to the requirement of the team or according to a situation prevailing in a match. By batting in different spots I have realised the pressure which each player coming in various spots in the line-up face. Every number has a different requirement, different skill sets to excel,†Dhoni explained.
What has been even more impressive at the way Dhoni changes gears in the middle overs and goes for the kill in the final overs. “These things come with experience and I have a team which has some phenomenal strikers of the cricket ball such as Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh who just make my job that much more easier.â€
