India has now lost their last three major series under Dhoni’s captaincy including one at home, and the question pertaining to ‘what now’ was apt. Sunil Gavaskar favoured former cricketer Abbas Ali Baig’s suggestion to make Kohli Test skipper but Atul Wassan was still circumspect.
England beat India at home after a 28-year-gap winning India 2-1 in the Test series after the fourth and final match ended in a draw.
Gavaskar suggested that it is time the selectors look to the future now.
Gavaskar said, “Till the fourth day of the Nagpur Test, I would have backed Dhoni. Now that Virat has come up with a hundred under trying circumstances where he curbed his natural game, he discovered a good part about himself. He is ready to take on the mantle of Test cricket. That needs to be looked at in a positive manner by everyone concerned as that is where the future lies.”
Wassan said, “I have got this view point that one captain cannot be used for all formats. Certainly there is no alternative as of now and Virat is our future choice. But God forbid if the team keeps on losing and we have to sack him, who do we fall back on. The succession plan has to be in a phased format and has to be earmarked. Just like in Australia, we knew that Michael Clarke will be the next captain four years ago. Virat should be eased by the selectors in shorter formats since India is in a transition phase as of now.”
When Sunil Gavaskar was asked about MS Dhoni’s comments that ‘he could not have done anything different on the Nagpur pitch’, he cam down hard on the skipper as said, “India could not get enough wickets on day 4. Also, they doddled around in the first hour on Day 4. If India had wanted to win the Test, they could have shown some intent by declaring on the overnight total or by asking the tail-enders to play slam-bang cricket. Yes, England batted well. But you do not put a forward short leg or silly point to get a catch there. You do that to force a batsman to give a catch some place else. Trott or Bell might have done something stupid then. India could have attacked more. But that’s not the only reason India lost. Our bowlers were by and large ineffective.”
Wassan and Gavaskar were also asked about the reasons that led to such a humiliating series loss.
“I think the complacency factor, which is a part of the Indian psyche. We can’t do much. Everytime an Indian tries to be ambitious he is pulled down. No Indian will overtly show his ambitions. That’s why we do not have killer mentality too. But when we won the first Test, that complacency came in. Even in Kolkata, batting in the second innings was very careless.
