Dhoni’s methods backfired for CSK

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Looks like MS Dhoni’s life as captain has come a full circle. From surrendering the No.1 status in Tests and suffering major setbacks in both ODIs and T20, the last chance for Dhoni to restore his reputation as a leader with the Midas touch was the IPL.

As irony would have it the league exposed more than a few glaring inadequacies in his style and functioning as a captain.

Chennai Super Kings have been the model franchise in the IPL and a strong cricket culture has been the reason behind their success.

If the defending champions fail to make the play-offs it will be the first time in five seasons and Dhoni’s adamant methods would have played a large part in it.

Some of the mistakes were elementary and if not for the superior individual abilities, Chennai could have slipped long back.

In spite of the top order crumbling against Kings XI Ravindra Jadeja was sent ahead of S. Anirudha who was the specialist batsman in the middle order.

Dhoni’s fixation with a few players and lack of belief in many others was the prime reason behind Chennai’s below par performance this year. Suresh Raina continued to bat at three even when his form was not great.

From promoting S. Badrinath to open and wasting the striking abilities of Anirudha and Albie Morkel, the errors were far too many.

Chennai was led by a false sense of security through the event as they had played a game or two more than the other contenders at all stages and they never looked their solid self.

Field positioning has never been the strength of Dhoni (in any format) and that in turn affected the confidence of the bowling unit. Ben Hilfenhaus searched for the yorker against Dwayne Smith only to end up conceding 14 runs in three delivers.

The field did not allow the speedster to try the bouncer which would have been effective against a batsman clearing his left leg and swinging through the line.

Any captain is only as good as his team but there are occasions where the leader can make a difference by making players understand their roles better.

Chennai Super Kings are still in with a mathematical chance but the calculators could have well been given a rest had Dhoni been a touch flexible with his strategy and planning.