Dhoni’s bag of tricks is empty

India has cast such a spell on Pakistan that the team is unable to shake off a 20-year jinx. But that is only a small quantum of solace which somehow always seems bigger for Indian fans who may have come to believe in those two decades that beating Pakistan in these world events is bigger than winning the cup itself.  If an exception comes along like the 50-overs World Cup win then they are happy twice over.

India’s ageing T20 side played true to form in the World Cup. A confused captain with a quixotic team finalisation process that pays no heed to the ‘horses for courses’ theory did not help matters at all. With Dhoni, it’s all about friends and foes rather than choosing men for the occasion. This is a highly personalised process in which no one seems to have a say because no one believes his sell-by date as a leader came the moment he had won the 2011 World Cup.

What better time to give up the captaincy than on the crest of a wave of success after having won the real World Cup on top of the T20 world championship, which was followed by the top ranking in Test cricket. When someone suggested that Kapil Dev should step down as captain after the 1983 World Cup win because he was unlikely to scale such a pinnacle again, he was laughed at. But then captaincy in Indian cricket is a business proposition that ups the oomph factor in endorsements.

The start-stop glories of Indian batting are unlikely to compensate consistently for the general slackness in bowling and fielding. It may yet take them a few more seasons to realise their main pace weapon, Zaheer Khan, is huffing and puffing after just a couple of overs. Where youth is needed in pace bowling, we believe in cleverness and experience. Where class is needed as in spin bowling we believe in short cuts like Piysuh Chawla. Heaven only knows when last he actually did something for his team to win a match.

India could have picked up a lesson from having watched Pakistan’s strategic brilliance in taking all pace off the ball by bowling virtually only spin at Australia. Armed with that knowledge and playing a second game on the same pitch, Dhoni had to call upon his all-time favourite spinner Harbhajan Singh as a last throw of the dice. But what did he do except to fall back on pace as his prime weapon only to allow Faf de Plessis to settle in nicely? T20 calls for sharp tactics and a willingness to back hunches in selection. On the day he really had to gamble, Dhoni became a true blue conservative and ended up losing a third successive T20 world championship

Blinded by the brilliance of a huge win over a hapless England side that had no clue as to how to play spin, India replicated the tactics against Australia only to be blasted out of shape by batsmen who loved Bhajji’s offerings. Mistaking Pakistan’s illogical brawn-over-brain tactics against India for team brilliance, Dhoni replicated those tactics only to be served a cruel lesson by South Africa, infamous chokers who went on to spoil India’s party while failing most narrowly from bringing off a big upset win.

When it comes to counting the big bucks Team India are the true champions. Success in a team sport is not measured by the weight of the combined purse. There is a huge lesson in this somewhere but Indian cricket, with its known propensity to cling to personalities rather than tackle issues involving principles, will stick with the same formula until it is knocked off its perch in all forms of the game. This is a historical pattern of over dependence on charisma that is repeating itself. India cricket will, however, be steadfast in its refusal to learn from history.