It is obvious that the power struggle between Dhoni and Shastri has reached its peak. In fact they don't even deny it any more, each is making statements in the media which is completely tangential to the other. India will never get back to winning ways in ODIs / T20s until one of them goes. Dhoni will never play as an individual contributor, his message to the selectors is if you want to remove me as captain, you have to remove me as player. In Tests, Shastri won last year and Dhoni was out, this is because the test team doesn't revolve around Dhoni and it was easy to move on. In ODI and T20, he is the best finisher for India and the last ODI game against Aus, showed, he is the only finisher for India - clearly establishing his indispensability ( sometimes a duck can work wonders). The way the team batted showed they are probably behind the captain in ensuring his survival. I think it is probably best to split the coaching as well into test coach and ODI/T20 coach in order for India to get back into winning ways.
Re: Re: Internal politics at its height in Indian Dressing room
by GS on Jan 22, 2016 03:34 AM
The news hit the media that a new coach might be chosen which means Shastri might go. Kohli needs to rely on players to win a test match ( not sure he can score all the runs), players who are playing ODI / T20 and whose career is in Dhoni's hands. Look what is happening to Yuvraj and now Ashwin. He might want Dhoni's job but he also knows he needs to wait it out now. We can speculate a lot but the bottomline is unless BCCI clears up this mess and sends a strong message that the system and more importantly INDIA is greater than an individual, all the players will reflect and follow their leader. This is what Gavaskar meant when he said harsh changes are needed. He is not openly saying it that's all.
Hussey has spoken well when he mentioned that Indians have played better in this series in Australia. Score over 300 on Australian pitches is no small feat. The team ultimately may have lost four matches in a row, But the good thing is that Indian top order has played well. The middle order batsman especially the once finisher of the game Captain Dhoni has lost his touch in this series. If the bowling department can improvise and be a force to reckon with, than we may have a very good team
