India vs England: Binny mystery, Dhoni's flop show and woeful shot selection

India crashed out of the Carlton ODI tri-series after losing to England by three wickets in the sixth and final match of the group stage — a result which meant that they ended their Australian tour winless — with five losses, two draws and an abandoned match. Here are three things from the England vs India game on 30 January. India need to get their shot selection right India and collapses going hand in hand seems to have become a sort of a norm. Throughout the Australian tour, India suffered collapse after collapse. And the trend continued in this match. The openers provided a good start - a rare phenomenon — and India were doing well at 103/1 in the 28th over before Virat Kohli decided to charge down the track and loft one straight into the hands of Joe Root at long off. It was a decision that even Dhoni was unimpressed with; “Good bowling (from England) and poor selection of shots led to a low score,” he said in the post-match interview. It all went awry from then onward as India went from 103/1 to 200 all out — and they only got there thanks to a cameo from Mohammed Shami (25 off 18 balls). What was odd is that despite there being pace and bounce in the wicket, India’s batsmen were persisting with steers and dabs to third man — a high-risk shot when the pitch is bouncy. [caption id=“attachment_2072411” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Dhoni kept Binny — his best bowler of the day — out of action when India needed him the most. Getty Images[/caption] In the last fixture against England, when Steven Finn was getting good bounce at Gabba, Ambati Rayudu and Kohli were dismissed trying to steer the ball to third man. Today Ajinkya Rahane and Rayudu got out the same way. It has happened quite often in the series and this is something that needs to be sorted out as soon as possible before the World Cup — where they will be playing on similar pitches in Australia and New Zealand. Why didn’t Binny bowl all ten overs? Expecting Indian bowlers to win India the match, has become nothing short of a cruel joke, or an example of ironic humour. That’s because India’s bowling has been a perennial problem and they have to (as usual) depend heavily on their batsmen to win matches. India were defending 200 in this match and very few would have given them a chance. But it was a different scenario today as the Indian bowlers were up to the task and had reduced England to 66/5 from 20 overs. Stuart Binny was the chief destroyer as he ripped through the middle order and took three key wickets - that of Root, Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara — in a six-over burst in his second spell. Binny had opened the bowling and bowled just two overs in his first spell. His figures after the second spell read 8-0-33-3. England were in trouble but James Taylor and Jos Buttler then got together and just milked the bowling around. The partnership was growing but MS Dhoni still persisted with Akshar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja. This was surprising to see, because a wicket at that point would have turned the match. Binny had bowled beautifully and was getting good tennis-ball bounce but he was nowhere to be seen. Taylor and Buttler stitched up a 50-run stand — but no Binny. Then the 100-run stand came up — but still no Binny. Instead we saw Akshar Patel — who hardly looked threatening — given a chance to bowl his full quota. Even Jadeja bowled 9.5 overs and was hit for 62 runs at 6.30. But still, Dhoni kept Binny — his best bowler of the day — out of action. England stuttered at the end and were 193/7, needing 8 more to win but Binny’s absence was confusing. Eventually, England knocked India out of the tri-series and Binny’s figures still read 8-0-33-3. Dhoni’s form is a real worry When it comes to ODI’s, Dhoni is one of the best players (and finishers) in the format. Even if the Indian middle order was struggling in the past, Dhoni would use his calmness and steel to steer India past the finish line. But he went missing in this series. 70 runs from four matches at an average of 23.33 and a highest score of 34 are not Dhoni-like numbers. In his last eight ODI innings, he has scored 216 runs at an average of 30.85 with just a single half-century — which is way beyond his overall average of 52.29. And it’s not like he struggles in these conditions — Dhoni averages 51.83 in Australia and 76 in New Zealand — but today was his third straight failure in the tri-series as he struggled against extra bounce. He never looked in control of his innings — his 17 off 32 balls was enough proof of that. Dhoni might not be getting his captaincy right but being the most experienced batsman in India’s World Cup squad — he should at least perform with the bat.