India vs South Africa 2018: 5 takeaways for India from the ODI series

#4 The Dhoni conundrum

How will the team management solve this riddle?

Despite his advancing years, Dhoni has remained the best wicket-keeper in world cricket, and the stumpings and run-outs that he effects continue to astound people. However, it is quite clear that his batting is on the wane. It's a well-known fact that he's not the same big-hitting batsman he was a few years ago and the bowlers have realized this and have chalked up plans to prevent him from scoring freely.

The best place for him to bat is in the first 30 overs, as he would get time to build his innings, but isn't it a risk if he ends up eating balls and then gets dismissed in an effort to accelerate?There are many games in which the second wicket falls beyond the first 30 overs as Rohit, Dhawan and Kohli control the innings and look to bat till the final overs. This leaves too few overs for Dhoni to get in and he invariably slows the innings down when it's time to get things moving.

Dhoni offers a lot without the bat though, with his keeping skills, leadership qualities and astute reading of the game. But are these enough to keep him in the side, when his contributions with the bat are decreasing by the series?

In all likelihood, the selectors will persist with him till the World Cup in 2019 and then see what needs to be done.