Mahendra Singh Dhoni

When Amitabh Bachchan met MS Dhoni for the first time

Jul 142017

Amitabh Bachchan shared a throwback photo with former Indian cricket team captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, when the latter dropped in on the set of Big B’s 2003 hit, Baghban.

Addressing the cricketer as a “great man”, Bachchan wrote, “When MSD dropped by on the sets of BAGBAAN at Film City.. my first meet with the great man!!! (sic).”

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Indian players who disappointed the most in the series loss against England

Sports

Dec 182012

Indian players who disappointed the most in the series loss against England Even though Indian cricket team had lots of forgettable moments in the past one and half year or so, the last one month period is something that they will want to wipe off from their memory chamber very soon.

After a 0-4 whitewash against England last season, this series was seen as a grudge series and India indeed did start as favorite. Pundits termed England as the underdog team and taking into consideration men in blue record at home, one can only say that it was fair enough.

India were on course of exacting their revenge and beat England by nine wickets in the first Test at Ahmedabad. But the visitors scripted a remarkable comeback and won both the following matches in Mumbai and Kolkata.

1-2 down in the series, India started off well in the Nagpur match but then English players showed great character to shut any chances of an Indian comeback and did well exceptionally well to draw the match and win the series.

The series win has now helped England break their 28-year jinx on Indian soil; last time an English side won a series was in 1984-85. This is also for the first time that India lost a series at home in eight years, last time was in 2004-05 against Australia.

Indian team failed collectively in the series and it is a very herculean task to push them on the back-foot in these conditions.

India had many players who disappointed right through the series and let us take a look at them:

Sachin Tendulkar: The master blaster had been going through a very poor form and critics were after him. But more than anyone else, he had to prove a point to himself that he still belongs to international cricket. But he failed miserably in the series making calls for his retirement stronger than ever. In the six innings, he just scored 112 runs at an average of 18.66 including one half century. It has now been two years that maestro has not scored a Test century.

Yuvraj Singh: Yuvraj Singh who was making a comeback into the Test cricket after a long sabbatical flopped comprehensively in the series. Yuvraj made a earned a place in the team owing to his double century in the Duleep Trophy. He scored a brilliant half century in the first innings of the first Test and it looked like finally he would be would be able to cement his place in the team. But unfortunately, he could hang sustain his form. He was at sea in the subsequent innings and eventually was dropped from the fourth Test. He scored 125 runs in five innings at an average of 25 including an half century.

Ravichandran Ashwin: Ravichandran Ashwin’s recent performances in the longer version of the game made him the most important bowler for India in the series. He was expected to be the trump card for Dhoni, but he disappointed with his bowling. He flattered to deceive in the series and took only 14 wickets at an average of 52.64. His best bowling in the series has been 3-80. He however impressed everyone with his batting but then the team wanted him to deliver with the ball.

Zaheer Khan: The senior Indian bowler was woeful in the series. He never got it right in the series and his bad form prompted the selectors to drop him from the last match at Nagpur. In the three matches that he played, he just took four wickets bowling at an average of 53.25.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni: The series gone by raises serious doubts on his captaincy. After the success of the spinners in the first match, he was actually vocal about playing on rank turners and the idea cost him a lot. The complacency hurt India a lot and English spinners ran riot whereas Indian spinners were kept at bay. Also his decision making comes under scrutiny especially his idea of playing three spinners in Mumbai and Nagpur. It back-fired for India and it is only Dhoni who is to be blamed for it. Even his approach was far too defensive and he actually waited for England to make mistakes and hardly was seen taking any initiatives.

By Indian Sports News Network

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We can keep three or four slips but the wicket should really support that: MS Dhoni

Sports

Dec 172012

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni praised England fast bowler James Anderson and said that he was the major difference between the two sides. Dhoni in the post match press conference said that Anderson’s ability to get reverse swing from the old ball made him very dangerous and he played a crucial role in his team’s series winning performance.

“He was at the batsmen all the time, specially the second and third spells of his where the ball had started to reverse and still was slightly on the harder side. He made the most out of that spell and kept the batsmen guessing. I think the major difference between the two sides was James Anderson who bowled very well,” Dhoni said.

Dhoni said that England were the better team and deserved to win. He also said that their team was very well balanced. “If you see their side, they are a very well balanced side. The two spinners they have got, Monty is a very good spinner and Graeme Swann is among the best in the world.”

Dhoni said that there were a few positives that the team can take out from this loss. There were a few positives and a few places where we lost out. That’s the reason we lost the series,” he said.

On the pitches that he got in the series Dhoni said, “The wicket at Mumbai was a very good wicket. Good bounce and turn was there for the spinners.”

On the Nagpur pitch he said, “I felt the wicket improved as we went into the fifth day. How many on-drives did we see on the first day, but today there were five to nine on-drives against the spin which means the grass grew and it made the track better paced for batsmen to play their strokes.”

On the defensive field that India put on the fourth and the fifth day, Dhoni said, “We bowled for ten hours and got three batsmen out; you have to evaluate the wicket from this. We can keep three or four slips but the wicket should really support that. Okay I did not have a silly point or a short leg for a long time but how many balls went there?”

Dhoni backed the young players in the team and said that they should be given a longer run. “You have to back youngsters who you think are very talented and can succeed at the top level even if they fail initially. Without trying them out how will you know? It’s difficult to replace Rahul Dravid or VVS Laxman or Sachin Tendulkar. What’s important is whether the youngster coming in can absorb the pressure,” he said.

On the Indian fielding, Dhoni said, “We have seen some improvement especially in this Test match where we had a few young players who we could place at points and restrict them from taking singles and rotating the strike. Yes, a few catches were dropped, but that again is part and parcel of the game.”

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MS Dhoni blames poor batting for series defeat

Sports

Dec 172012

Nagpur: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni blamed the team’s batting performance for the series loss against England. The fourth and the final Test at Nagpur ended in a draw and England won the series 2-1.

India won the first Test at Ahmedabad, but then lost two consecutive Tests at Mumbai and Kolkata to take the winning lead.

“England were the better team and deserved to win the series. We struggled in the batting department but their spinners were right on the mark. I think James Anderson was the main difference between the two teams,” Dhoni said.

On the Nagpur pitch he said, “If you got your head down it was hard to take wickets. I think it got better, coming on to the bat and easier to play strokes. It was hard to bat on in the final session of day three and early in day four but got better after that.”

On the positives that the team can take out from the series, Dhoni said, “We tried a few combinations that didn’t really work, we had some part-timers but we needed someone like Jadeja to keep the lid on the batsmen. Pujara’s batting was a positive and Gambhir got back in the runs. We can take a lot of positives from the series.”

James Anderson who was adjudged the man of the match for his tremendous spell of bowling said, “People come over here and think the spinners are going to get all the wickets but I wanted to show seamers have a job to do as well.”

“Reverse swing played a key part and we executed our plans well. The beauty of bowling short spells means you can give it your all and then get a rest. It’s been amazing,” Anderson added.

Alastair Cook who was brilliant throughout the series and won the man of the series award said that it was a special day and a special tour for the team.

“After Ahmedabad, the heavy defeat, it’s been a fantastic response. In my first series as captain, I couldn’t have asked for more, it’s a very proud moment. Our bowlers have been brilliant and all the batsmen contributed. It’s always nice when it goes well, can’t praise the team and the squad enough,” Cook said.

By Indian Sports News Network

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Dhoni, Kohli help India to 227/4 at tea on day three

Sports

Dec 152012

Nagpur: A brilliant partnership between Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli took India to 227/4 at tea on day three of the fourth Test being played at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur.

India started the afternoon session at 146/4 with Kohli on 46 and Dhoni on 31. Kohli soon went past the fifty run-mark as England took the new ball in the 81st over. Dhoni raised the tempo as soon as the new ball was taken and played some fabulous strokes to reach fifty.

Both batsmen played superbly and raised the rate of scoring to take the Indian score past two hundred. Soon the two had a partnership of 150 runs.

India at tea were trailing by 103 runs with Dhoni unbeaten on 75 and Kohli on 77.

By Indian Sports News Network

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Are the Indian selectors toothless tigers?

Sports

Dec 122012

Mohinder Amarnath’s recent allegation about how the whole Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s removal after India’s 0-4 whitewash in Australia was dealt with has created a storm in the Indian cricket fraternity.

The former North Zone selector Amarnath in an interview to Times Now said, “Definitely, there were discussions to replace Dhoni and people had even agreed to do so, but for some internal reason it didn’t happen. I would not like to divulge what the reasons were.”

He did not divulge any further information but Indian Express went on to speak with Raja Venkat, former East Zone selector who said, “Sanjay Jagdale, the BCCI secretary and convener of the national selection committee, consulted BCCI president N Srinivasan who shot down the proposal. Srinivasan made it clear that though the majority of selectors felt that Dhoni didn’t inspire confidence as Test skipper, the time was not right to remove him.”

With majority of the selectors including Amarnath, Venkat and Central Zone selector Narendra Hirwani was in favour of dropping Dhoni after the dismal performance, but Srinvasan was against it.

The move could by no means have been successful after Srinivasan’s denial as the BCCI constitution has a clause which apparently states that the approval of the president is required while selecting the team.

Well, reason exactly not known as of yet why was proposal overlooked but then what the allegation does is that it throws light on how the cricket body in India is run.

Amarnath’s s statement does not help but makes one wonder why is there even a selection committee when the right to take the final call is vested upon the president.

After what had transpired in Dhoni’s case, it would not be harsh to say that the selectors are toothless tigers in this whole setting and work as a puppet to the higher authorities.

Because if three out of five member people thought of dropping Dhoni, ideally it should have happened but it never saw the light of the day.

There can be only two reasons for not dropping Dhoni even after selection committee’s insistence and they are either Srinivasan did not have faith in them or he just never wanted to change anything and let the sport be run the way it always used to be.

Whichever might be the reason, calling BCCI wrong will not be improper. Even selectors never could generate the faith, why were they selected at the first place?

It is a known fact and even in the past players have received immense patronage from the board president and nothing can be done about it.

But then what it does is that in the longer run the interest of cricket that gets side-tracked.

Dhoni’s case is a classic example to that. Dhoni did not receive the axe because of the people at helm and what happened is for everyone to see.

India are already 1-2 down in the ongoing series are poised for their first home series against England in 27 years.

Recent developments in Indian cricket show that the time has indeed come to change and the people at power should put the sport ahead of anything.

BCCI is an autonomous body and is not answerable to anyone, but in a nation where cricket is something which is equivalent to religion and cricketers are nothing less than Gods, demands an answer.