Nothing textbook about it | Ranabir Majumdar
Cricket legend Kapil Dev had strong words for MS Dhoni after the Indian skipper brought himself on to bowl on day two of the Lord's Test. In fact, it is difficult to digest the 'making mockery of test cricket' statement from the former Indian captain, especially because everyone knows that Dhoni is generally not given to such antics.
By day two of the Lord's Test, India were facing a double blow. First, Zaheer was out of the attack due to an apparent hamstring injury and two, none of the Indian bowlers were proving to be a thorn in the flesh of the English batsmen. Continue reading below
Dhoni is an astute strategist and reader of the game and his decision to bowl himself can be backed on two grounds. Desperate times call for desperate measures. And considering the conditions prevalent, it probably wasn't a bad call to try out some seam up medium pace bowling.
These are exactly the conditions in which a player like Sourav Ganguly proved his credentials as a bowler. Dhoni too has a similar bowling style and he had to bowl himself because there was no one else in the team who could shoulder that job. Dhoni, in fact, sent down some good deliveries and was unlucky to have missed out on picking up a couple of wickets, including that of double centurion Kevin Pietersen.
Had he done that, I would imagine that Kapil Dev would have hailed Dhoni's decision to bowl himself as a masterstroke. Yes, there is a sanctity that needs to be maintained in Test cricket, but cricket itself has changed so much that you cannot fault a captain for trying out something new, especially when the two sides are logged in a battle for the No. 1 spot in the ICC Test rankings.
It's also a well accepted fact that Dhoni is the man with the Midas touch. Many of his decisions, which have looked audacious at the beginning have now become a part of cricketing folklore. This time too he tried something for the team and it surely didn't go against the spirit of the game. He tried and that is what matters.
One would have imagined that a gutsy captain like Kapil, who liked to take the bull by the horns, would have backed Dhoni's decision. Generally, one would tend to agree with Kapil but this time there's no doubt that his charge on Dhoni is an unfair one.
