Where's the captain's knock?

Published>Sat, Aug 28 10 11:53 AM

From the time he landed on Sri Lankan soil 50 days ago, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been in the spotlight even when he hasn't been on field. When the Test series started, the media glare was on the newly-married skipper. If it was his wife cooking meals for Dhoni in the Tests, then it was horse riding lessons for the couple during the tri-series.

On the field, Dhoni's woes came into prominence when he had to keep with a swollen finger. Often he was seen wincing in pain during the Test series and there were doubts about whether he would keep in the tri-series as back-up Dinesh Karthik was added to the ranks.

But Dhoni didn't give up the big gloves. In the do-or-die game against New Zealand, he retrieved balls that escaped towards third-man, often beating the fielder in that area. His decision to field four-medium pacers and drop left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha paid off in Wednesday's game.

Invariably, when India had a bad day in the field - which were quite a few, to say the least - it was the captain who made himself available to answer difficult questions. However, despite this constant limelight, Dhoni the batsman has been conspicuously missing.

He didn't turn many heads in the longer format, other than his 76 runs at the SSC. This knock however, was overshadowed by Sachin Tendulkar's double century, a century on debut by Suresh Raina and Virender Sehwag's 99. At the P Sara Oval in the third Test, he wasn't required to bat in the second innings after making 15 in the first.

Struggling for form

The ODI series has been no different. But to Dhoni's credit, he hasn't shifted the blame from himself for the team's batting collapses. Along with Dhoni, Sehwag too has stressed that not much should be read into the batting failures of the side - especially the youngsters - as the World Cup will be played on far more docile wickets than the ones prepared at Dambulla.

Yet, for all the downplaying of results so far, Dhoni will be keen to maintain his side's dominance against Sri Lanka. Simply put, in four visits to this country, Dhoni has never tasted defeat in a series or in a final against the Islanders. Results such as a 3-2 series win (2008), 4-1 (2009), the tri-series (2009) - which included New Zealand - and the Asia Cup (2010) holds the captain in good stead. Although the Lankans take great pride in dominating at home, they have always fallen short against the Dhoni-led side.

In 25 months, Dhoni has faced the Sri Lankans 25 times. But Saturday's final is bound to be a tricky affair, played in breezy conditions on a lively wicket and under not-so-bright lights.

Seventy three runs in four innings so far has been far a from brilliant performance for the No.1 ranked batsman in ODIs. But things could change pretty quickly. Perhaps a move up the order in the final could do the trick. Perhaps it might add the extra something that his batting has required for almost two months in the island country.

Source: Web Search