MS Dhoni standing back to Ravindra Jadeja didn't make sense, says Farokh Engineer

MS Dhoni leads his team out to the field of play

Former Indian wicket-keeper Farokh Engineer has criticized MS Dhoni for his decision to stand a few steps back to the spin of Ravindra Jadeja on day 4 and 5 of the 2nd Test match against England at Lord’s.

"Standing back to Ravindra Jadeja didn't make sense at all," said Engineer.

"I just couldn't fathom why he was doing so. There were times when the other fielder behind the wickets, Virat Kohli, was standing next to Dhoni and it looked like there were two wicket-keepers in there. I have never seen anything like this in international cricket. It was baffling and mind boggling. He is a far better wicketkeeper than he showed at Lord's."

After the match, when Dhoni was asked for the reasoning behind standing back to Jadeja, he had said, "Actually I wanted to have a fielder there (behind the wicket on leg-side). But according to the rules, you can't have three fielders there. So I wanted Virat to stand slightly wide from where he was standing because anything like a snick or a faint edge on the leg side would have gone between me and him. So the plan was to stand behind and cover that."

Engineer, having kept in more challenging conditions to more able spinners like Bishan Singh Bedi and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, was having none of Dhoni’s rationale behind his move.

"I am a huge fan of Dhoni. He reminds me of my own playing days, my own cricket," the 76-year old said.

"But that reasoning is not valid. What would he have done if he was keeping to Bhagwath Chandrasekhar who used to give the ball a rip without too much rough on the wickets? Thank God he never kept to that legendary leg-spinner."

Engineer also said that the rough on the Lord’s pitch on the last two days of the Test was nothing unusual, and he wondered whether Dhoni standing back, to the spinner, reflects a lack of confidence in his own wicket-keeping abilities.

"Of course there was rough at the Lord's pitch, have you ever seen a pitch without some rough areas on day four and five?" asked Engineer.

"Was it a lack of confidence that he couldn't stand up to stumps and catch them? In fact if I compare from the 2011 series, he has really improved his wicketkeeping skills. So this standing back to the spinner was absolutely unnecessary in what was otherwise a magnificent win," he signed off.