Team India has been forced to make an early exit from the Twenty20 world cup after being outplayed by West Indies, England and South Africa in the super eight round.  It is indeed quite disappointing to see India failing to qualify for the knock-out stages of the world cup.  As has been the practice, the round of accusations and cursing have begun and players and captain are under scanner.  Cricket fans across the nation are expressing their rage against captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni blaming him for India’s unceremonious exit.  His effigies are being burnt and he is being portrayed as the real villain!

Going by the reactions of people and even the former players, it seems that the honeymoon period for Dhoni is over.  The blue-eyed cricketer known for his swashbuckling batting and maintaining a cool demeanour on the field, Dhoni is under firing lines for his behaviour and some baseless captaincy decisions.  Known as a thinking and effective captain and conferred the title of ‘Captain Cool’, Dhoni is now being cursed for India’s debacle.  Today, each and every move of the skipper is being scrutinized with utmost disdain.

Cricket is a team game and a single person cannot be accused for the debacle, but when viewed in broader perspective, one can’t deny the fact that it was Dhoni who ruined the Indian hopes of retaining the trophy.  In the crunch match against England, the decision of Dhoni to send in Ravindra Jadeja to bat at number 4 ahead of in-form batsman Yuvraj Singh was far than ridiculous.  Jadeja (25 off 35), struggled to force the pace while Yuvraj Singh watched the proceedings from the dugout.  Not giving bowling to Yusuf Pathan and underbowling RP Singh are some other decisions in question.

After the game against England, Dhoni apologized to Indian cricket fans for the dismal show and said to bounce back, but this not going to soothe the bruises of the harsh blow of the defeat.  The loss against South Africa again ridicules Dhoni’s commitment of a fight back.  Is this called a fight back back where you can’t even score paltry 131 runs to win a match?  Where was the commitment Mr. Captain?  The team doesn’t look like a unit and the morale is down in the dumps.

Having apologized and talking big for the future can’t allow Dhoni to get away from his responsibilities.  It is quite evident in his mannerism that early success has got into his head.  The shy and down to earth cricketer from Ranchi is becoming edgy, grouchy and almost suspicious.  Dhoni has enjoyed a smooth ride as a captain of Team India since the 2007 Twenty20 world cup, but has come under scrutiny due to his behaviour and unwitty decisions.  Adding to his woes is his dismal show with the bat.

Over the last few weeks, it was apparent that he was slowly stepping out of his amiable self and the arrogance in his behaviour was quite apparent.  The patient, witty, and earnest behaviour of Dhoni was quite missing during his recent interactions with the media.  In order to quash media reports of his suspected tiff with Virender Sehwag, he had to even parade the entire team in front of media.  Unfortunately, this act led to even more disbeliefs in the team and the unity of the team was shattered.

Over a period of time, we have witnessed a drastic change in Dhoni’s attitude and behaviour.  Success and money appears to have got into Dhoni’s head.  The most appropriate example is his abstinence from the prestigious Padma Shri award.  Time and again he would come out with his humiliating comments over the senior players and his recent distance from Sehwag has also put him into firing lines.

Adding to the woes of Dhoni’s fortune is his dismal show with the bat.  He has changed his style of batting- from a carefree swashbuckling murderer of cricket ball to mere a nudger for singles and doubles to build up his innings.  We have seen such a change in Sachin’s batting also, but he wasn’t that successful and had to revert back to his free flowing approach.  Now, a batsman of Sachin’s caliber and technique had problems with a changed approach in batting, then where does Dhoni with flawed technique stand?  Dhoni shouldn’t forget the fact that he was inducted in Team India just because of his hard hitting batting extravaganza who could keep as well.

However, it is still early to jump on to conclusion that Dhoni can’t fight back.  But to do so he needs a lot of work and commitment as he has promised.  He has been a lucky captain for India until the world cup and we are not sure whether he has used up all his luck.  Maybe, it could be a bad phase and he would come back with a bang.  But as of now, Dhoni needs to change his stance and keep aside his arrogance which is hindering his and team’s prospects.  Dhoni needs to focuss more on cricket than glamour and money to enhance his career.