Unbeatable bailiff of bails
Debate continues whether time has eroded Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s ability as a finisher but the two lightning fast stumpings he effected in Wednesday’s Indian Premier League match against Delhi Capitals prove at least his glovework remains rust-free.
While Dhoni scored 44 not out from 22 balls in the 80-run victory, it was the two stumpings he pulled off in the same Ravindra Jadeja over to send back Chris Morris and Delhi captain Shreyas Iyer that were as crucial. On both occasions, the back feet of both batsmen had barely risen from the ground when Dhoni knocked off the bails.
The former India captain attributed his speed to his unconventional technique, marked by a conspicuous lack of hand movement when collecting the ball.
“It’s something that has come from tennis-ball cricket which I’ve played a lot,” Dhoni said. “But you need to do the basics right first and then graduate to the next level. I feel if you want to keep like that, then this is what you practice.
“You may commit a lot of errors so what’s important is you stick to the basics and then get to the advanced course. If you can reduce the time where you can clip the bails off, it always helps.”
Chennai spinners claimed eight of the 10 Delhi wickets in the match with Dhoni involved in three dismissals, including a catch. Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori believes spinners are a greater threat with someone as assured as Dhoni behind the stumps.
“It’s not a traditional way of keeping but it’s the best way,” Vettori, a left-arm spinner himself, told Cricinfo website of Dhoni’s glovework. “He’s phenomenal behind the stumps.”
Dhoni, who walked away with the man-of-the-match award, is India’s preferred wicketkeeper in this year’s World Cup, with Dinesh Karthik as the back-up. / Australia captain Aaron Finch believes David Warner will enter the 2019 World Cup desperate to prove himself as the disgraced batsman prepares to rejoin his teammates after a ball-tampering ban.
Warner has been in red-hot form in the India Premier League after completing a 12month suspension for cheating, averaging 69.20 in 12 innings., including a century and eight half-centuries.
Finch expected the fiery batsman to also dominate on the international stage, providing a huge boost for Australia as the reigning champions chase a sixth World Cup trophy. “He’s coming back with a huge hunger, not just to perform well for his franchise, but to dominate international cricket again,” Finch said.
“When you have your dream taken away from you for 12 months, I can imagine there’s something inside you that burns really strongly.”
Finch said the ban, imposed after Warner masterminded the sandpaper scandal in Cape Town in 2018, had given the 32year-old a chance to refresh his game. “He’s a super player, we know how destructive he can be,” he said.
“Having time off to spend with his family and get away from the game was important.”
Warner and former Australian captain Steve Smith, who was also banned over the cheating scandal, will officially rejoin the Australian squad for the first time at a training camp in Brisbane on Friday.
Finch did not expect any problems re-integrating them into the team, even though the former captain and his deputy will have to defer to a new leadership team.
“I’ll be using them as much as I can tactically because they’ve both captained a lot of cricket and are very good captains on the field,” he said.
“It would be really naive of me not to lean on them.”
Finch also revealed he feared for his own spot in the team after a recent barren run, although he believed he had now returned to form.
“In the back of your mind you’re thinking, ‘gee, the World Cup isn’t far away, as a captain I could be left out of the squad’,” he said. “Then you start putting unrealistic pressure on yourself to perform.”
Finch had an unsuccessful spell in the Test side in 2018, averaging 27.80 in five matches, and conceded that at 32 his career in the long-form game was over.
“My chances to play Test cricket again have probably slipped away,” he said. “I’m still very grateful for the opportunity. I’m OK with that because I gave it everything I could.”