Humbled in Bangladesh: The big questions Dhoni and Team India must answer

He said it with a smile… a reluctant smile if one may say so. But it was essentially a mask to hide emotions of a very disparate kind.

“If it is justified that you remove me and Indian cricket will start doing well then definitely I would love to step aside and play as just a player. Ultimately, it is most important for India to win and not who is leading them to the win,” Mahendra Singh Dhoni said during the post-match press conference that followed a humbling series defeat against Bangladesh – who have now won 10 ODIs on the trot at home.

It would be easy to take Dhoni’s words at face value – after all, the Indian skipper is known for his ability to call a spade a spade. But that would be taking a much too simplistic view of a man who has changed the way India – and perhaps the world – plays ODI cricket.

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The ODI series defeat against Bangladesh is a low point for Dhoni and India – there is no argument there. It was the first time the hosts had beaten India in a bilateral series and this is not a memory that will be forgotten anytime soon. In the press conference, his answers betrayed irritation and perhaps some anger as the reporters asked some tough questions.

“I’m always the one blamed for everything wrong with Indian cricket. Maybe it is all because of me that everything is happening. If you play long enough you see the good and bad days on the field. But I am really enjoying (cricket),” Dhoni said.

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Of course, everything that happens in sport can be linked to data and hard numbers but the intangibles: will, pride, hunger are just as important. In the case of a captain – you can bunch inspiration in with the rest because without the ability to inspire, a leader is just dead weight.

The defeat last night, in turn, inspired tough questions but none of them were really new. We’ve been asking them for a while and Dhoni’s answers have never strayed from his chosen path – he’ll step down if they can find someone better; he’ll step down if they want him gone; he’ll step down if they ask him to.

In fact, his apparent lack of a struggle is a little disappointing and that is what raises the real questions.

Is Dhoni stuck in the past?

“I would go to war with Dhoni by my side,” former India coach Gary Kirsten once said. And it wasn’t just lip service. But would he say the same now? Many of India’s recent defeats have been blamed on India’s lack of experience or the undisciplined bowling or even the weather. But the team seems more responsive under Kohli; they seem to try harder; there seems to be clear intent. That raises the question whether Dhoni needs to change his captaincy style (once again nothing new but he hasn’t changed) to suit the new team. They clearly are struggling to consistently adapt to his standards. Either which way the captain needs to be able to get the best out of his team. Is Dhoni doing that? The answer doesn’t come as easily as it once used to.

Does he really want the job?

There is no Alastair Cook kind of determination – ‘I want the job’ or even a Steve Waugh kind of stubbornness – ‘I want to go out on my own terms.’ He seems to be indifferent to the task at hand; treating it with a rationality that is at once stunning yet befuddling. Yes, he will say it is a great honour but it has since also become just a job and like all jobs, it does get boring after a while. So rather than put the ball in the selector’s court, can Dhoni tell us whether he really wants to do this or not.

Will India be better without him?

The simple answer to that is no but in sport one can never be sure. Maybe, under Kohli’s captaincy India will continue to lose. Maybe Dhoni will get a second wind. But as things stand – India still needs Dhoni the player but can do without Dhoni the captain. He understands the game and its requirements and even if he isn’t one of the main actors, there is still a lot of value is having him play the role of a character actor. His batting – while not as consistently explosive – still places him among the best in this inexperienced India team. His average over the last 24 months is an impressive 55 – higher than his career average of 52.14. But if you take just the last 12 months into account, then it drops to 38.84 which is still decent enough considering his batting position.

Will installing Kohli as skipper in ODIs put too much pressure on him?

It is virtually certain that Kohli will captain the ODI team in the future. It is hard for someone to be given all the responsibility at the same time; it means they have no down time; it means a reduced shelf life and it means that he will have to grow up in a hurry. Do India want to push Kohli that hard? Given that India are not quite sure of when they play their next ODI (the series against Zimbabwe may be pushed to next year because of BCCI’s issues with Ten Sports), the selectors can afford to wait. Maybe the break with rejuvenate Dhoni and the Indian team. Either way, it makes sense for everyone to take a break and breathe.

Is this the way forward for the Indian team?

Progress is impossible without change. So with the passage of time, it is a given that things will change. We have to accept that at almost 34, Dhoni is no longer the man who will blindly jump into the face of danger. But given the time we have at our disposal, it makes sense to have Dhoni mentor another player for the job. It could be Sanju Samson, it could be Wriddhiman Saha, it could be anyone. But they need someone to guide them and who better than Dhoni to do that.