Why MS Dhoni’s first bilateral series against Zimbabwe is crucial for him as captain

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will make a little bit of personal history this month. After 11 years as an international cricketer, Dhoni will play his first bi-lateral series against Zimbabwe.

In fact, over the course of five days this month, Dhoni will double the number of matches he has played against Zimbabwe, having done so just three times prior since his debut in 2005 (and only once since 2006). A month shy of his 35th birthday, you’d expect Dhoni wouldn’t have to play these sorts of games. Instead, the kind of tour he skipped in his prime is now a tour he doesn’t want to miss. This is the strange sort of Twilight Zone that India’s most successful captain has entered as his career starts to wind down.

It isn’t just that Dhoni will be playing in an unfamiliar country. He will also be leading an unfamiliar side with five uncapped players. So unfamiliar in fact that it wouldn’t be surprising if one or two of them have to introduce themselves to their captain. This squad is so untested that Dhoni (275 ODIs) has played almost 200 more ODIs than the rest of the squad combined (83 ODIs).

Dhoni is well aware of the implications.

“You keep playing with almost the same group of players, so you almost know the roles and responsibilities and what each player’s strengths are," Dhoni said at the pre-departure press conference in Mumbai. “There will be quite a few players in this bilateral series with whom I’ll be playing for the first time. So I have to quickly assess their strengths and, at the same time, according to the team composition what is the best possible manner in which each individual can be utilised.”

The learning curve for the players will need to be more of a straight line too. As is the fashion these days in international cricket, there are no warm-up games. “Not many of them would have played in Zimbabwe and getting used to the conditions in such a short period would be a major challenge,” head coach Sanjay Bangar told bcci.tv . “The conditions too are a bit challenging as compared to the other parts of the world. We don’t really have a lot of time there and we play our (first) match straightaway.”

Inexperienced players are more likely to make mistakes in high pressure situations too and there won’t be a Zaheer Khan or a Ravichandran Ashwin for Dhoni to throw the ball to if the team is in trouble. Or a Virat Kohli or Ajinkya Rahane to bail the team out with the bat. In a sense, Dhoni has come full circle, at least for this tour.

That he is willing to do so speaks volumes about his motivation to keep playing for India. The fire appears to still burn after almost a decade as captain (in at least one format) of India, a job that is among the most highly scrutinised in the country and one that takes an inevitable toll on mind and body. But then Dhoni has been able to absorb that pressure in a way few, if any, of his predecessors have managed.

That should stand him in good stead because Dhoni’s presence turns what is normally a low-intensity contest (does anyone remember what happened when India toured Zimbabwe a year ago?) into must-watch TV. There is a lot at stake personally for Dhoni following a poor IPL in which his team, the Rising Pune Supergiants, finished second from bottom, raising questions about his captaincy and his form with the bat. Ravi Shastri’s comments earlier this week, that the time is right for Virat Kohli to take over as India captain in all formats of the game, has only ratcheted up the pressure further.

Should India lose the series, the calls for Kohli to take over will doubtless grow louder. The good news is Zimbabwe is a somewhat unsettled side that lost to Afghanistan in a bi-lateral series back in January.

Meanwhile winning, even with such an inexperienced squad, will only be par for the course. Unless, of course, Dhoni can coax something remarkable from this rag-tag bunch of India hopefuls while also showing that the demise of his batting skills have been greatly exaggerated.

That India won more than ever under his leadership has helped immensely, but the last few years have not been so kind and Dhoni’s aura has begun to show signs of cracking.

On Thursday, the BCCI announced the schedule for the 2016-17 home season, which consists of 13 Test and just eight ODIS and three T20Is. That means Dhoni, if he continues as limited-overs captain, will lead the team on the field for all of 11 days between September and March. Kohli, on the other hand, has potentially up to 65 days in the public eye over the same period.

With that sort of ratio, the momentum for Kohli to take over will only grow, especially if India keep winning. It tells you why Dhoni needs to be on the flight to Zimbabwe and why all eyes will be on him to see how long he can hold back the tide.