The selection committee came up with the masterstroke of appointing MS Dhoni as captain for the inaugural ICC World T20 in South Africa and India didn't look back after that. After successfully leading India in limited-overs cricket for a year-and-a-half, Dhoni took over Test captaincy in November 2008 from Anil Kumble and took India to the top spot across all formats.
Right now, the situation is pretty similar to 2007. India have lost pretty much everything over the last few months and the call for change is rising again. The BCCI, of course, is not too bothered about all this and the bosses are quite convinced that Dhoni would still be the man leading India out in the 2015 World Cup. Even then, they will be watching Virat Kohli's captaincy minutely in the Asia Cup.
"Of course, Kohli's captaincy will be scrutinised. He is a captain for the future and everyone will be keen to see how he shapes up in this tournament. But I don't agree to the sentiment that Dhoni is solely responsible for India's downfall," former India captain and chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar said.
He feels that it's not Dhoni's fault that India have been unable to produce match-winning bowlers. "What does Dhoni do if he doesn't have the bowlers? It's the system that is responsible for the Indian debacle, not Dhoni. To me, Dhoni is still the man to carry on as captain," Vengsarkar said.
Vengsarkar has a point, but that doesn't necessarily explain why Dhoni has ceased to be the aggressor with a gambler's instinct in 2007 (remember him tossing the ball to Joginder Sharma for the last over in the ICC World T20 final against Pakistan). In New Zealand, right through the third and fourth days of the second Test, the same man who used to come up with innovative tactics in his early days, sat back and waited for Brendon McCullum and BJ Watling to make a mistake which made Ian Chappell compare him to an "absent-minded professor strolling around the park".
"Dhoni was like a breath of fresh air in that 2007 World Cup. He was just incredible with his out-of-the-box thinking that took us to victory," Lalchand Rajput, who was the coach of that team, said. He agrees that the Asia Cup in some ways is similar to that T20 World Cup where Kohli's captaincy will be watched. "Kohli has that aggressive intent, though he is a totally different person than Dhoni. And Kohli has captained India in eight one-dayers before this, so he is not exactly new to the job," Rajput reasoned.
Kohli, himself, is not too keen to get drawn into this debate of captaincy. "I don't think this is anything compared to what Dhoni has gone through in the past few years. I am captain for just one tournament. It is completely different from regularly captaining the side," he said in defence of his captain. When reminded of the criticism that Dhoni has been subjected to, Kohli said: "When you win, you're praised, when you lose, you're criticised. It is all a part of the game."
But Kohli, deep down, is getting excited. He knows that the crown is not far away and he has to make the right moves to keep himself well and truly in the ring. "I have got this odd opportunity like I did in the past as well. I am sure it is a very tough position to be in. You have to be ready to take all the criticism and praise that comes your way," the heir-apparent said, rehearsing the words that he might have to say day-in-day-out pretty soon.
The dress-rehearsal might have begun.
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