An open letter to MS Dhoni ahead of the England tour

Will MSD lead India to a historical win in England?

Dear MS Dhoni,

I’ll start off by saying that I’m a hardcore fan of yours and am fully aware of heights you’ve scaled and the benchmarks you’ve set. To truly cement your name amongst the all-time greats, though, you’ll have to fill the last few remaining boxes on your checklist.

While your records, both as a captain and a batsman, at home have been impeccable, your overseas performance has much to be desired. A 0-4 score in any format shows that one team is clearly superior to the other. This is the sort of scores you’d expect when a world champion side is playing against a minnow. No excuse can explain why a near unbeatable team at home gets utterly dominated when exposed to overseas conditions. While such a performance may warrant a complete change in both the team’s structure and leadership, it has to be first put down to sheer incompetence, which is not the case with India. Having one of the most formidable batting line-ups in all of cricket history, it is clear that India’s arsenal is intact and functional.

I vividly remember you saying that if you are being held responsible for the series of defeats, shying away from the responsibility is not an option. Rather, to rebuild the team by taking a different path is what had to be done. That was something which impressed critics too. There is no doubt that the sudden collective departure of VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar hurt the team, but the day had to come and all of us had to be prepared for it.

With the next England tour in sights, the team has been provided with yet another ripe opportunity to get rid of that indelible stain. Capitalizing on players fresh out of the IPL should be a priority owing to their good (mostly) forms post-IPL. Also, the England team is currently busy with restructuring the team. With all the odds in our favour, anything but a clean sweep would be considered less than satisfactory. It is therefore up to the players to function as a single unit and battle their psychological demons together, to achieve the results.

Many fans and critics alike feel that lately, you’ve been losing that trademark calm of yours, one that has demanded respect and fear from both supporters and opponents respectively. That calm demeanour of yours has often rubbed off on the entire team helping it scale almost insurmountable odds. Losing that can prove detrimental to the whole team and can give signals off of losing control to the opposite team. And as a batsman, your record in Tests is anything but stellar as befits a player of your calibre. This is yet another chance to prove the critics wrong by showing your quality with the bat.

All this has been said only because of the potential possessed by both the team and you. Perhaps, it is time to go back to the roots and do what you do best, calmly dissect the opponents and beat them one part at a time. With everything in our favour, what better way to start the journey to the World Cup than a Test series victory against England, in England?

Regards,

Indian cricket fan