SOMSHUVRA LAHA

NEWDELHI: Despite scoring a fifty in his first competitive game in over two months, MS Dhoni is the elephant in the room India needs to address soon before its domino effect is felt in the World Cup this May. Dhoni came out on Saturday in the fourth over with India chasing 288. The equation was still in favour of India. Even if Australia bowl well — which they did — a sub-300 total can never get too out of hand for the best chasers in the game.

Dhoni taking up 36 balls to score just six was still par for the course given the disciplined bowling t hat forced Rohit Sharma to consume 18 balls to get off the mark. India were in dire need of a partnership and Dhoni played his part. But unlike Sharma, Dhoni couldn’t find the next gear to guide India to the finish. This begs the question why India must insist on projecting Dhoni as an indispensable part of the World Cup plans when calibre players like Rishabh Pant and Manish Pandey are warming the bench. Farokh Engineer pitched the same question last week.

Several reasons are cited in Dhoni’s favour. Whatever Dhoni the wicket-keeper lacks in technique, he compensates by thinking on his feet. He rarely lunges to his left but can be the brain that drives the team. Lastly, victory is almost certain when Dhoni is at the crease. Not anymore.

Pant is a rapidly improving wicket-keeper who can blast any bowling attack. At 21, fitness is not an issue for him. Virat Kohli’s credentials as captain too has received a massive boost and with Rohit Sharma as vice-captain, India look smart on field. With the emergence of Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav and Manish Pandey, India don’t have to depend solely on Dhoni to finish matches.

And so good has India’s batting been that Dhoni was not