Jayawardene succeeds where Dhoni fails

The value of good captaincy may be debatable but there can be no disputing that strong leadership improves a cricket team's performance. Sri Lanka'sMahela Jayawardene is a good example.

His vibrant leadership during the CB Series inspired and took his team to the brink of a tournament victory. From the moment Jayawardene elevated himself to the top of the Sri Lankan order, his team became a threat. He also led the way with some brilliant fielding, but just as important as his individual contributions, it was his faith in his players and the respect he has earned that have elevated the level of Sri Lanka's play.

Good captaincy can be seen in the moves a skipper makes on the field but strong leadership is harder to quantify. It mostly involves work done behind closed doors but the rewards are reaped on the field.

Jayawardene showed enormous faith in Lasith Malinga following a horror night in Hobart. And his lead bowler continued to contribute despite a niggling injury. The rapport between the two was obvious when Jayawardene hugged Malinga after his outstanding finishing effort in the must-win match against Australia at the MCG.

In the end Sri Lanka fell just short of winning the trophy, but without Jayawardene's strong leadership and shrewd captaincy, it's doubtful they would have even reached the finals.

Compare Sri Lanka's playing-above-themselves competitiveness with India's under-performance throughout the Australian tour. There's no doubt India had a more talented line-up than Sri Lanka, but other than Virat Kohli's electrifying night at Bellerive, the Indian team was unable to live up to its reputation.

MS Dhoni is a good captain, better in the short forms of the game than Test cricket but a solid skipper nonetheless. However, he has been unable to inspire his team on two lacklustre tours and consequently eight overseas Tests have been lost on the trot. There may have been extenuating circumstances in England, where injuries took their toll, but the Australian tour was an unmitigated disaster

Read More

11:17 PM

The Best chance to beat Australia Down Under: Dhoni

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni reckons that the upcoming four-Test series is his team's "best chance" of upsetting Australia in their own backyard but will not take them lightly despite their recent slump. India and Australia will square off from December 26 in a highly-anticipated series in which the visitors seem to have a good chance given the struggle through transition that Michael Clarke's men are enduring. On a day the Indian players head Down Under, Australia were upstaged in a Test at home by New Zealand for the first time in 26 years. "Even last time we had a very good chance and we did perform well. It is not like that the opposition is not doing well (but) it will be the best chance for us," Dhoni told reporters in a pre-departure press conference here in Chennai. "We have to play to the kind of talent that we have got and not worry about such things. We need to work on our strengths and weaknesses. We are more concerned about where we need to work on and not worry about what kind of opposition we are playing," the skipper stated. India's two first-choice pacers, Praveen Kumar and Varun Aaron, were ousted due to injuries even before the tour started but Dhoni insisted that led by the experienced Zaheer Khan, bowling will click Down Under. "Our bowlers are talented. Of course, when you do not have your main bowlers you need a bit of time. Once the youngsters play more and more games, that is how they get experienced at the top level. I think talent wise we are there. We have a good exposure for the youngsters who are part of the side now touring Australia," he said. Dhoni took a break from cricket by opting out of the just-concluded ODI series against the West Indies at home and he said he is back a rejuvenated man. "I needed the break and I am happy that I got it. The team also did really well. I am looking forward to the Australian tour," he said. "We have enough time for some preparation also before the start of the first test match that we play. Looking good as of now. Hopefully we do not have too many injuries before the start of the Test series," he added. Asked which aspect of the game the Indian team needs to improve on, Dhoni said, "You want to improve in all three departments (bowling, batting and fielding) always. You have seen cricketers who have been part of international cricket for more than 10 years still believe in improving and they keep improving. It is a constant process and everyone is part of it." He stressed on how important the catches would be and hoped that Indian fielders, certainly not the best in circuit by his own admission, would latch on to catches that come their way in Australia. "We would like to improve in all the three departments. Catching will be very crucial. Last series that we played in India we did not have so many catching fielders. We need to have a bit more catching fielders. They say catches win matches, which is true. So that will be one of the areas where we have to work on. On big grounds, running between wickets and trying to keep the batsman on strike are also necessary. All these small things help you put pressure on the opposition," he explained. Despite the couple of injury setbacks before the tour, Dhoni hoped that players would remain fit through the gruelling tour, which also features a tri-nation ODI series in February-March. "If you see the injury list, it is quite blank as of now. More often than not, the 15 or 16 who are in the team will be ready for selection to play. That takes a bit of the pressure off and you need not worry about the playing eleven that much and most of players get their berths on merit. Apart from that, if you see, the batting lineup is quite the same. Bowling wise we have got Umesh Yadav who can bowl over 140 kmph. I think it looks like a good pack. We need to do well on the field rather than looking at it as to how we look on paper." he said. Tours to Australia almost always include a bit of controversy, the ugliest of which was perhaps the 2008 'monkeygate scandal'. The two protagonists of the drama, Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds, are not part of the series this time and Dhoni hoped that there wouldn't be any face-offs of that kind. "We will try to keep the fireworks off. Someone like Virender Sehwag starts playing their game, then there will be fireworks on the field. Not on the verbal side but with the bat and if the bowlers are going the ball will do the talking. Hopefully, we will keep the controversy away," Dhoni said. Indian coach Duncan Fletcher, who was also present at the media interaction, said having around half a dozen players including Sachin Tendulkar early in Australia will work to India's advantage. "We have sent some of the players early to Australia. By putting up two warm-up games you hope that they adapt during that period of time. Probably it is not easy enough. Perhaps at the nets if they give us the same set of quality and from that they will be able to adapt enough. We will see when we go in to the first Test." he said. On Zaheer's fitness status, given his history of breaking down on long tours, Fletcher said, "From the reports that I get, Zaheer had come to Mumbai and bowled at the nets there and he looked impressive. I think it is very important that he looked to be in very good condition from what we saw in him even when he came to England. Secondly, he has got these two games. It will be preparation for him. We do not want to rush him too quickly. The one three day game there, will be important for him before the first Test." he added.

Read More

1:45 AM

Dhoni's security heightened

Ranchi, Dec 8 (IANS) Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's security has been beefed up in Jharkhand following intelligence inputs on threats to him from the Maoists and terrorists, a police official said here Wednesday.

Dhoni arrived in Ranchi, his home town, last week with his wife Sakshi.

'We are not taking any chances. There are inputs of threat to Dhoni from the Maoists and terrorist groups. Based on the input we are taking appropriate measures to beef up the security of Dhoni,' a Ranchi-based police official, who did not want to be named, told IANS.

'We have received directives from the police headquarters to beef up Dhoni's security. Commandos of Jharkhand Armed Police will be deployed in his security,' the official said.

Security personnel in plain clothes have already been deployed near Dhoni's house in Harmu housing colony. They will move along with Dhoni within the state.

Read More

9:59 PM

Tendulkar and Dhoni rested for West indies Tour

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, leading the side in the ongoing Test series against the tourists, has been rested for the entire series, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a statement on Friday.

Hard-hitting opener Virender Sehwag will lead the team in Dhoni's absence.

Tendulkar, with 51 hundreds in Tests and 48 in one-day internationals, came close to scoring the 100th century before falling for 94 in the ongoing third and final Test in Mumbai on Friday.

All-rounder Yuvraj Singh was not named in the 15-man squad for the opening three matches as he was not fit. "Yuvraj was not considered for selection as he has informed that he is not fully fit," the BCCI said.

The opening one-day international starts in Cuttack on November 29.

India's one-day squad for first three matches:

Virender Sehwag (capt), Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Parthiv Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Rahul Sharma.

Read More

10:01 PM

Toss will be crucial in finals: Dhoni

Colombo: After slumping to a humiliating defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said toss will play a vital role in Monday`s final of the tri-nation series against the hosts here.

India lost to Sri Lanka by 139 runs last night in their second match of the tournament, thereby ending their brief stay at the number one position in the ICC ODI rankings.

But Dhoni said it was just an off-day for the team in the office and feels whoever comes out lucky with the toss of coin at the R Premadasa wicket tomorrow will have an edge in the title clash.


"In venues like this, toss plays a crucial role. If you win the toss then 60 per cent of the game is in your favour," Dhoni said.

The Indian skipper said his side`s bowling department needs to pull up its socks and avoid giving away a good start to the Sri Lankans, a mistake which proved costly for them yesterday.

"If you are bowling first, then the bowlers must ensure that the opposition don`t get off to a big start.”

"I think we are not bowling in the right areas. We are either too short or too full. Hopefully yesterday`s match would be a learning experience for us," Dhoni said.

Read More

6:04 AM

Dhoni is world's top earning cricketer

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has topped the list of world`s 10 top earning cricketers compiled by Forbes, which also features four other players from the sub-continent, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.

Raking in USD 10 million, Dhoni is at the top of the chart followed by Tendulkar at the second spot with earnings worth USD 8 million in the list of `The World`s Top-Earning Cricketers`.

While Singh and Dravid are at the third and fourth spot, respectively, Ganguly and Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting share the sixth place. "Paycheck figures include club and national team salaries and commercial endorsement income over the last 12 months," Forbes said.


According to the magazine, Singh earned USD 5.5 million while Dravid and Ganguly raked in USD 5 million and USD 3.5 million, respectively. Ponting also earned USD 3.5 million. "With its deep-pocketed owners and global appeal, nine of the 10 highest-paid cricket players call the Indian Premier League (IPL) home, the publication added.

At the fifth spot is England`s Andrew Flintoff with earnings of USD 4 million followed by Australia`s Brett Lee and English cricketer Kevin Pietersen, both at eighth place, and Australian Michael Clarke is ranked tenth.

While Lee and Pietersen raked in USD 3 million each, Clarke earned USD 2.5 million. "Take Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who plays for the Chennai Super Kings and tops our list as cricket`s first USD 10 million-a-year man (that`s USD 5,426 for each run scored).

"His USD 8 million in endorsements, from the likes of Reebok, General Electric and Pepsi, is 45 per cent more than any other player. Among all Indian athletes and entertainers, Dhoni`s 17 corporate sponsors is second to only Bollywood star and co- owner of the Knight Riders, Shah Rukh Khan," Forbes said.

About Tendulkar, the magazine said the holder of numerous offensive records, is considered among the greatest batsman in cricket history. "... he`s one of five IPL players who have been bestowed `icon` status, meaning he automatically receives a paycheck 15 per cent larger than his highest paid teammate.

"Tendulkar`s USD 1.1 million salary from the Mumbai Indians helped push his total earnings to USD 8 million over the last 12 months," it added.

Read More

2:30 AM

Dhoni, Gambhir, Harbhajan in running to match Dravid's feat

Mumbai: Former captain Rahul Dravid is the lone Indian player to have thus far won the ICC Cricketer of the Year award and three of his compatriots are in the running to emulate him this year.

Dravid`s splendid display with the bat fetched him the Cricketer and Test Player of the Year honours in 2004 – the inaugural year of the International Cricket Council`s annual awards.

None from India was able to match the middle order stalwart`s feat between 2005 and 2008.

This year captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, opener Gautam Gambhir and off spinner Harbhajan Singh have been named in the long list of nominees for various awards.

Dhoni, Gambhir and Harbhajan are also in the running to get the Test Player of the Year award along with wristy batsman V V S Laxman, besides 15 others.

Dhoni has also been named in the list of nominees for the ODI Player of the Year award along with compatriots Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag.


Leg spinner Amit Mishra has got the chance to become the Emerging Player of the Year four years after out-of-favour left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan won it.

Australian Simon Taufel is in the running to make it six-in-a-row as the top umpire of the year at the awards ceremony in Johannesburg, South Africa, on October 1.

The following are the past award winners:

Cricketer of the Year: Rahul Dravid (Ind) - 2004; Jaques Kallis (SA) and Andrew Flintoff (Eng) -2005; Ricky Ponting (Aus) - 2006; Ponting - 2007; Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI) - 2008.

Test Player of the Year: Dravid - 2004; Kallis - 2005; Ponting - 2006; Mohd Yusuf (Pak) - 2007; Dale Steyn (SA) - 2008.

ODI Player of the Year: Flintoff - 2004; Kevin Pietersen (Eng) - 2005; Michael Hussey (Aus) - 2006; Mathew Hayden (Aus) - 2007; M S Dhoni (Ind) - 2008.

Emerging Player of the Year: Irfan Pathan (Ind) - 2004; Pietersen - 2005; Ian Bell (Eng) - 2006; Shaun Tait (Aus) - 2007; Ajantha Mendis (SL) - 2008.

T20 Player of the Year: Yuvraj Singh - 2008. Woman Cricketer of the Year: Karen Rolton (Aus) - 2006; Jhulan Goswami (Ind) - 2007; Charlotte Edwards (Eng) - 2008.

Umpire of the Year: Simon Taufel (Aus) - 2004 to 2008.

Read More

5:48 AM

Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir and Harbhajan Singh, has been nominated for the prestigious ICC Cricketer of the Year award

Dubai: Indian cricketers finally seem to be reaping fruits of their hard work over the past 12 months, which, in turn, translated into some fantastic results for Team India.

Though there have been many catalysts to India’s stupendous recent performances, none has been more significant than captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

And deservedly, Dhoni, along with his team mates Gautam Gambhir and Harbhajan Singh, has been nominated for the prestigious ICC Cricketer of the Year award.


The above mentioned trio, along with the evergreen VVS Laxman, also features amongst those, nominated for ICC Test Player of the Year award.

Not surprisingly, Dhoni has been nominated for ICC ODI Player of the Year award as well. He gets company from dashing duo Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag in this segment.

In the 2008-09 season, Dhoni led India to Test victories over Australia (home), England (home) and New Zealand (away), besides registering bilateral ODI series triumphs over Sri Lanka twice (both away), England (home), New Zealand (away) and recently West Indies (away).

During the 9 Tests he played in this period, Dhoni contributed 918 runs to the Indian cause at an average of 54.40, while the in 15 ODIs (excluding the West Indies series) he played, his 592 runs came at an astonishing average of 65.77!

His most potent weapon during his conquests, especially the Tests, was Gautam Gambhir.

The Delhi southpaw, currently ranked second in the ICC Test rankings, amassed a whopping 2612 runs from just 8 Tests last season at a ‘Bradmanisque’ average of 84.60, striking as many as 5 hundreds.

His one-day form was more mortal but staggering nonetheless. He scored 606 runs at an average of around 45 from the 15 one-dayers he played, scoring a solitary 100.

Following Anil Kumble’s retirement, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was faced with the mountainous task of stepping into the former’s shoes. And, as statistics reveal, Harbhajan has lived up to the challenge quite efficiently.

With 39 wickets from 8 Test matches, at an average of 27.05, Harbhajan has played a perfect foil to team India’s pace attack.

Most noticeable aspect of Harbhajan though has been the rapid strides he has taken to improve his batting prowess.

He has scored 3 crucial half-centuries and averages a healthy 32 in the 2008-09 season.

He added 12 wickets to his kitty from the 10 ODIs he played last season.

Laxman, whose contributions to Indian cricket have been restricted just to Tests lately, scored 1531 runs from 9 Tests, at an average of 61.75. His 2 centuries include a double hundred against his bunnies- The Australians.

Yuvraj undoubtedly has been India’s most powerful performer in the shorter versions of the game, setting victories for India single-handedly.

In the 15 one-dayers he played, he scored 643 runs at an average of 59.08 and a mind-boggling strike-rate of 110. He also scored 3 centuries.

During the same period, Sehwag played 14 one-dayers, butchering 782 runs at a strike-rate of 127! He averaged 60, scoring 2 centuries.

Courtesy these efforts, India have moved up the second rank in ODIs and the third rank in Tests.


Dhoni has already been the ODI Player of the Year in 2008 besides being named in the ODI Team of the Year.

Zaheer Khan was nominated for Twenty20 Performer of the Year award while Amit Mishra will be vying for the honour in the Emerging Player of the year category as Indians led the overall nominations for the award.

Mithali Raj and Priyanka Roy were nominated for the Women`s Cricketer of the year award.

The ICC Awards nominations were announced by dashing Indian opener Virender Sehwag and former captain Ravi Shastri in the presence of International Cricket Council Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat.

The awards will be presented on October 1 in Johannesburg, South Africa during the Champions Trophy.

The nominations were based on performances from August 13, 2008 to August 24, 2009 and were selected by a five-member selection panel, headed by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd,

The panel also included former India Test captain Anil Kumble, Mudassar Nazar of Pakistan, Bob Taylor of England and New Zealand`s Stephen Fleming.

The awards include eight individual prizes and also features the selection of the Test and ODI Teams of the Year.

There will also be an award to the side that has adhered most to the Spirit of Cricket.

Besides Dhoni, Tillakaratne Dilshan has also been nominated in three different categories, while 18 players make appearance in two distinct categories in the sixth edition of the awards.

The individual player awards will be selected by an academy of 25 highly credentialed cricket personalities from around the world.

The academy includes a host of former players and respected members of the media, representatives of the Emirates Elite Panels of ICC Umpires and ICC Match Referees.

Read More

4:09 AM

Social community sites hits India’s top cricketers

They may have trained hard to counter the short-pitched deliveries in their preparatory camp but it’s a cyber bouncer that has left India’s top cricketers a worried lot.

As the star players gear up for a gruelling season ahead, they are faced with a bizarre problem -- cyber impersonation on micro-blogging site ‘Twitter’.

The increasing popularity of the site in India has brought with it a problem which has the potential to create confusion and mislead unsuspecting cricket buffs.

What is worse, the players, who have millions of fans in a cricket-crazy nation, can do little about it.


Most of the celebrated Indian players have accounts on ‘Twitter’ but almost all of them are fake. They have already drawn a huge list of dedicated followers and it keeps growing every passing day.

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has four ‘accounts’ on the networking site with one of them having attracted 2291 followers till Sunday.

In the profile page, it shows Dhoni with the Indian cap and the bio says “I am the captain of the national cricket team”.

Dhoni’s agents and family members have made it clear that the Indian captain does not have an account on Twitter, seeking to dissociate themselves from the handiwork of a prankster who operates the page.

“Dhoni does not have an account on Twitter. Many people have called us and we want to clarify this point” his elder brother Narendra Singh Dhoni told reporters.

Some of the tweets from the impersonated Dhoni account, which ranges from the problems in DDCA to Vinod Kambli’s reality show, have already created some controversy.

For example, a tweet on August 26 said “I wanted to give my regards to Vinod Kambli. Had he played to his potential, he had the chance to be as great as Sachin and Lara”.

But apparently, it led to some misunderstanding among his followers. Hence another tweet within hours on the same day said “Please don’t misunderstand comments about Sachin and Kambli. Sachin is the greatest batsman to ever play the game of cricket!!”

The cyber impersonation on Twitter is not restricted to Dhoni. Champion batsman Sachin Tendulkar has as many as seven accounts with one of them, which has his photo, having over 4594 followers.

Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh and Gautam Gambhir are among the top cricketers who have to deal with this Twitter menace.

With many celebrities worldwide joining the Twitter bandwagon, the social networking site is aware of such problems and has introduced a ‘verified account’ badge to lend genuineness to the account and prevent identity confusion.

“To prevent identity confusion, Twitter is experimenting (beta testing) with a ‘Verified Account’ feature. We’re working to establish authenticity with people who deal with impersonation or identity confusion on a regular basis,” a Twitter communication said.

“With this feature, you can easily see which accounts we know are ‘real’ and authentic. That means we’ve been in contact with the person or entity the account is representing and verified that it is approved (This does not mean we have verified who, exactly, is writing the tweets).”

“This also does not mean that accounts without the ‘Verified Account’ badge are fake. The vast majority of accounts on the system are not impersonators, and we don’t have the ability to check 100 per cent of them. For now, we’ve only verified a handful of accounts to help with cases of mistaken identity or impersonation” it said.

Twitter has strict guidelines to prevent impersonation but it will find it difficult to keep track of such practices unless specific complaints are made.

The site’s Impersonation Policy says: “Pretending to be another person or business as entertainment or in order to deceive is impersonation.”

“Non-parody impersonation is a violation of the Terms of Service, specifically article 4 which states: You must not abuse, harass, threaten, impersonate or intimidate other Twitter users.”

The standard for defining parody is, “would a reasonable person be aware that it’s a joke.” An account may be guilty of impersonation if it confuses or misleads others – accounts with the clear intent to confuse or mislead will be permanently suspended.

Parody impersonation accounts are allowed to exist. The profile information on a parody account must make it obvious that the profile is fake, or it is subject to removal from Twitter.

Fortunately, it is still early days for web impersonation in India and therefore the damage has been limited among ‘tweeple’, a term said to have been coined by Bollywood director Karan Johar to describe people on Twitter.

But many avid Dhoni fans are gradually realising that they have been fooled by a prankster. “All these days I was thinking I was following my hero Dhoni. But now I know its not him. I am disappointed,” said Chetna Rai, a Dhoni fan in Ghaziabad.

Read More

5:59 AM

Dhoni leads ODI rankings, Team India second

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his deputy Yuvraj Singh retained the top two slots in batsmen’s list, while Team India managed to cling on to second position in the ICC ODI Rankings issued on Monday.

Dhoni held on to his numero uno status with 828 rating points while left-handed Yuvraj, who had managed his career best ranking last month, had 784 points in his kitty.

The Indian duo are followed by Australia’s Mike Hussey (767), West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul (759) and his skipper Chris Gayle (756) in the list.


Virender Sehwag (seventh), Sachin Tendulkar (14th) and Gautam Gambhir (17th) stuck to their respective positions.

Meanwhile, South Africa remained on top of ODI Championships table, followed by India and Australia at second and third.

Among the bowlers, injured left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan continued to be the only Indian in top 20 at 16th.

Sri Lankan Nuwan Kulasekara tops the bowlers’ list.

Read More

11:11 AM

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Full name Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Born July 7, 1981, Ranchi, Bihar
Current age 24 years 100 days
Major teams India, Jharkhand
Also known as Mahi
Batting style Right-hand bat
Fielding position Wicketkeeper

The spectacular arrival of Virender Sehwag was bound to inspire others to bat with the same mindset. But the odds of a clone emerging from the backwaters of Jharkhand, whose state side has consistently scraped the bottom, was highly remote. That was until Mahendra Singh Dhoni arrived. He can be swashbuckling with the bat and secure with the wicketkeeping gloves. His neck-length hair adds to his dash. Though Dhoni made his first-class debut in the 1999-2000 season, it was only in 2004 that he became a serious contender for national selection with some stirring performances when the occasion demanded - a rapid hundred which helped East Zone clinch the Deodhar Trophy and an audacious 60 in the Duleep Trophy final. But it was with his two centuries against Pakistan A, in the triangular tournament in Kenya, that he established himself as a clinical destroyer of bowling attacks. In just his fifth one-dayer, against Pakistan at Vishakapatnam, he cracked a dazzling 148 and for a while even put Sehwag in the shade

Cricket: India names Dhoni to one-day captaincy

Mahendra Singh Dhoni took a huge step toward one of the biggest jobs in world cricket on Tuesday when he was named captain of India for its series of one-day matches against Australia and Pakistan, to be played over the next two months.

Dhoni, 26, who is leading India in the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa, can make a strong case for also taking charge of the five-day test team if he performs well in the one-day matches. The job carries the pressure of meeting the expectations of India's huge population for its highest-profile national sport but also the prospect of great wealth.

India's next five-day series, against Pakistan, does not start until Nov. 22. The alternative to Dhoni is believed to be Sachin Tendulkar, India's greatest contemporary cricketing hero, who was only moderately successful when he captained the team in 25 tests from 1996 to 2002.

India's chairman of selectors, Dilip Vengsarkar, said of Dhoni, "He is a good captain, and this is the right time to groom him."

Dhoni's ferocious middle-order hitting has given him a high media profile and made him a highly effective one-day player. At one time, he was rated the best one-day international batsman in the world.

The main risk in appointing him to the five-day role would be that he is also a wicket-keeper, carrying an immense physical and psychological weight as the only man actively engaged in every single delivery in opposition innings that often extend over more than a day's play.

The vacancy was created by Rahul Dravid's resignation last week. World Cup years always bring their crop of captaincy changes. Inzamam ul-Haq and Brian Lara stepped down as captains of Pakistan and West Indies; Habibul Bashar lost the leadership of Bangladesh; and England finally concluded that Michael Vaughan's undoubted leadership qualities were outweighed by his limitations as a player in the shorter form of the game.

Read More

9:53 AM