Dhoni probably needs a break

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is among the busiest of international players © AFP Much as I enjoyed watching the Indian Premier League from a distance, it has been fantastic to resume my job with India. In many ways, it was...

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I think today's game would have been a perfect opportunity to rest MS Dhoni and give Yuvi some good experience in leading the side. Since we donot have Karthik or Parthiv in the squad, Robin could have donned the gloves.

Can I just thank you Mr. Kirsten for what you've become and who you've become. Lao-Tzu once said that "A leader is best when people barely know he exists . . . when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say, 'We did this ourselves." This is what I believe you are. In stark contrast to the previous coach.

Thank You.

It more so seemed like a status update from Kirsten on what he's actually doing with the team. :) But it was interesting to note it though.

I think with Dhoni doing the job already, kirsten is rightly handling the youngsters with upton doing the mental conditioning job [especially master blasters like sehwag need to be reminded often that they shouldnt be going over the top etc.,]

I think if India can implement the rotation policy, and groom that many top class players, we are sure to become one of the strongest teams in world cricket.

GARY - Do you think that even after he scored a century against HK you still need to give him a break? There is no time left, you cannot afford to give him a break against Pakistan in the group match because whoever wins will play against the weaker team i.e., Bangladesh hence this round match is as important as the semi-final. Secondly, I am of the opinion that if you give rest to a player especially the captain who has been winning you break the momentum. I guess your thoughts were prior to India playing against Hong Kong. I would have said, yes give Dhoni a rest against Hong Kong but not now. And I don't think Dhoni is a player who is getting tired or looking flat, he is so full of energy and that is so obvious from the powerful shots he play. The flat six that he scored today against Hong Kong is an example of his mental and physical strength. So, you being a coach you have different ideas about his energy level. I would like to hear your response now.

Gary Kirsten, all the best in your role as the Head Coach of the Indian team. Coming from a country such as Malaysia where cricket is slowly but surely gaining popularity, it's always good to hear encouragements and positive feedbacks from cricketers / formers cricketers from the TEST playing countries with regards to having more matches involving the Associate countries and the TEST countries. Cricket can only truly be called a Global game such as football once we have more countries getting into the TEST Playing Nations family and a Tournament such as the ASIA Cup has to be commended for providing this opportunity.

As for Gary, hope in your new role as Head coach of an international team, you will continue where you left from your playing days where you showed the importance of having the pride and passion when you play for your country together with your mental toughness, hard work and willingness to continue working on your game till the end of your playing career.

Good Luck!

Gary made a right point and of course rest is indeed a must one for every international cricketer.

Hi Gary, though i have not been following cricket lately after i moved out of India to Australia, i heard from my friends that you have the potential to take this Team to new heights. Don't panic by the expectations that people back in India have, just give it your everything and i am sure the results will follow...All the best and God bless you!!!!

It wont matter even if Dhoni is rested against Pakistan. The other guys are now good enough and experienced to handle Pakistans normal game. During the Kitply final , Pakistan showed sporadic brilliance and no one can do anything about such occasional sporadic brilliance performance which comes once in blue. Under normal circumstances when it comes to consistency, even without Dhoni , our players are better except maybe perhaps unless - Afridi plays one of his rare fast innings. The fact remains that due to the hectic cricketing schedule, players need to be rested and rotated wisely. It will require a good judgment on which player needs to be rest. It wont make sense if a player in form is rested for a series.So the judgment of who is rested for real and who is rested because one is out of form is difficult.

Javed,
Ever thought about checking the facts before you open your mouth? Go and check the Asia cup format. After the group matches, there is a round-robin stage where the top-4 teams play against each other. There is no semi final.

Well.. if i had to make a suggestion to Gary Kirsten, it would be that don't bother.With the money being paid out to IPL stars...now and in the future...It would be more a case of players occasionally turning up for international games, paying more importance to the IPL games.So i would say..make the most when these stars do turn up for tournaments like the Asia Cup.
My suggestion might seem a little drastic...but the Football/soccer scene and the importance that is paid by the mega-rich football stars toward "friendlies" is a glaring example in this regards.
Cheers

Gary, I greatly appreciate your ideas and I truly believe that you can take this young, talented and enthusiastic bunch of cricketers to reaching new heights.

Dhoni himself does not want to take a break. In fact, he is much worried that if Dinesh Karthick comes in his place and make a good innings, Dhoni will be forced to include him in the playing 11 which Dhoni does not want to happen. So, Dhoni will play each and every game (or occasionally he may include Parthiv Patel for one or two games) but does not give a chance to Dinesh Karthick.

Given that the only team against which Dhoni could have been rested was Hong Kong, it is a moot point to discuss resting him for any match in this tournament at least. And given that no other keeper was included in the squad for the Asia Cup (correct me if I'm wrong here), I get the feeling resting Dhoni at any time in the Asia Cup was never on the cards. But yes, the sentiment is laudable, and for once, implementable, now that we have identified a group of 25 odd individuals from which one can pick an ODI playing eleven arbitrarily without having to compromise heavily on overall team quality.

By-the-by, Mr. Kirsten, always been a fan of your batting temperament. Glad, almost relieved, to have you in charge. All the best!

Head to head record: In 115 matches, Pakistan have won 67, India 44 and there have been no results in 4 games. best of luck Pakistan...

well, like Rahul D, MS should play & play & play. Let's see how long could he play for India, as consistently as Rahul D did!! He must understand that team should have an younger generation but must respect the experience ST, SG and RD carry. In a gentleman's game -- exit of gentleman should be well respected. Tomorrow, he could be one of these and wouldn't expect the same treatment from the future captain.

I see a lot talked about Dhoni's politics to get Rahul and Saurav out and Dhoni is cunning and all that. Well Dravid was given captaincy, what were the results? Saurav was given, no good results. If we aspire to be as invincible as Australia, then we need to get rid of the old players sentiments. We need victories and cups, not sentiments. If Dhoni is the man who provides that welcome Dhoni. Tomorrow Dhoni loses his midas touch , chuck him out bring in a new guy. Absolutely no sentiments. We fans are tired of supporting a team which kept losing year after year based on individual brilliance. Trust me, We would not have won CB series if we had played Dravid and Dada. Dhoni showed you the results.

Gary's idea of Resting is good, and he is still making a plan. He is not saying rest Dhoni for Asia cup. Let him do his job first.
Yes Dravid played consistently. So?. We should keep him in team forever and lose match after match?. Is that what we need?

Given the amount of cricket that's being played there should be core of 20-25 players who could walk in and perform. Then any rotation would be more than welcome.

ST,SG and RD were great players and will be always respected. Cricket game is like fighting a war. Brave generals/Majors in the 1971 war cannot be sent to the border today just because they were good during their time and because we respect them...we need to look ahead and find new generals. The current team is good...MSD is doing a good job....

who is the best candidate to fill in for MS??? and another thing how is India the cricket power house it does not have a single umpire on the elite panel since venkat retired??? surely there has to be someone fitting in a country of a billion people???

Hi Mr. Kirsten,
Good to see this column (and thanks to Cricinfo too for that) and hope this will be a regular feature from now on. It'll be good to hear whats going on with the team directly from you.
Good thinking on the rotation policy, however it has been talked about in the past as well but hardly implemented. Hope things work out better this time around.
When you took over you had spoken about a exit plan for the seniors and that you will be talking with them about it. Has something emerged out of it, since you had a chance to meet up with them during the SA test series. Do you see a role for them in the ODIs?
All the best for all the upcoming series.

hi to all..it is not easy for a wicket keeper to keep wickets and to captain the team and to bat heavily for every match....dhoni will implement right techniques,when his mind and body are in good condition....it is better to rest him against hongkong and UAE.He was tired....u can know that by his words.He said that there was hectic schedule and that is the area of concern...it means he is indirectly saying that he need rest....so better rest him and utilize him in the matches against pak and srilanka...dhoni is once in a life time player and captain like kapildev....he is very precious to India....

I am happy that Kirsten has pragmatically thought of the rotation and about giving a break to MSD. I hope Mahi takes it sportingly unlike Sourabh acted like a child whose candy is eaten by ants at Greg's suggestion to take a break. We all know what happened thereafter and how the nation treated the coach.
Therefore, be a sport, Mahi.

I am greatly concerned at the level of physical stress MS Dhoni's body has been handling of late. The conditions in the tri-series and now in the Asia cup have been energy-sapping and Dhoni has been playing non-stop since the 2007 tour of England. Although his fitness levels are remarkable, I firmly believe India should tour with another specialist keeper in the squad. This may be a far-fetched suggestion, but Robin Uthappa can be trialled as a keeper in the upcoming Bangladesh game with Yuvraj or Sehwag taking up captaincy duties. Uthappa has donned the big gloves for Karnataka occasionally and if the experiment comes off well, India might have an even more flexible and multi-talented line-up than with which they started the tournament. Such experimenting becomes all the more important given the fact that Dinesh Karthick is the only other alternative available for the keeper's slot and he hasn't played international cricket since the CB series.

I couldn't have agreed more with Garry when he says that Dhoni needs a break. He sure does. I have always maintained that he has to be used sparingly, so that India can have his services for long. And this is purely because he has got one of the coolest minds in the game and reads the situations very well. His mission seems to be make India an invincible side as was Australia and there is no reason why that can't be achieved, given the kind of talent we have. We need his leadership and hope Gary can work with him in tandem to take India to new glory.

I agree 100% with Gary. MS must be rested. It does not matter who will be the opponent. Team India should be able to take on any team even without MS playing. There must be some others also who needs to get a chance to play. As long as BCCI keeps making the 'slaves' slog all round the year in all seasons for bringing in more money into the coffer, the least the Coach can do is to preserve as many players as he possibly can.