The Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) is reportedly considering roping in Mahendra Singh Dhoni in a role with the Indian T20I team in a process of rebuilding the team after their embarrassing exit from the recent T20 World Cup 2022.
India lost to England in the semi-final by 10 wickets while defending 168 runs as Jos Buttler and Alex Hales scored 80* and 86* respectively and knocked the Men in Blue out of the tournament. Considered one of the favorites to win the tournament, the conservative approach by the team saw them winning matches in the league stage very closely.
India lost to South Africa on a bouncy Perth wicket, while only managed to defeat Bangladesh because of a rain break giving them time to regroup. Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav were brilliant with the bat, while Arshdeep Singh starred with the ball.
However, some of their tactics left the experts and fans scratching their heads and forms of players like KL Rahul, and Rohit Sharma, and some selection decisions warranted a close autopsy.
On the other hand, England completely revamped their approach to white-ball cricket under Eoin Morgan and Andrew Strauss after the 2015 World Cup debacle and Jos Buttler now carries forward the legacy as England became the first team to hold both the 20-over and 50-over world titles at the same time.
Jos Buttler-led side holds the top three highest scores by a team in ODIs including the highest of 498 and has played utterly fearless cricket in both ODIs and T20Is since then and has been considered a threat in all conditions.
If BCCI really wants to revamp their white-ball cricket as ECB did, the process of rebuilding the team has to begin now. The next T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA will be held in June 2024.
While the team had embraced a more positive approach in the formative months of the Rohit Sharma-Rahul Dravid regime, it faded under the pressure of the big stage in Australia. The team settled for a par score in the tournament and didn’t try to go for the maximum for fear of losing wickets early.
The Men in Blue were only able to surpass the 40-run mark in the powerplay once in the entire tournament. KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma failed to give the Indian team those flying starts in the first 6 overs.
While Hardik Pandya is in plans to become the regular India T20 captain, the BCCI is still mulling on having a separate coach and staff for white-ball teams, especially T20 format.
Now Telegraph India has reported that BCCI is in talks with former captain MS Dhoni to bring him in some capacity with the T20 side and instill his expert skill to enable the Indian T20I team play that fearless brand of cricket in ICC tournaments.
Dhoni is the only captain to win all three white-ball ICC tournaments- the 2007 T20 World Cup, the 2011 ODI World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy.
The 41-year-old MS Dhoni is expected to retire from the game after IPL 2023 and the BCCI is keen to use his experience and technical acumen in the right manner. It has been reported that BCCI wants him to work with a specialized set of players since managing three formats is proving to be too demanding for head coach Rahul Dravid.
Dhoni was added to the Indian team as a consultant for the T20 World Cup 2021 in UAE, but India crashed out of the tournament in the league stage itself.
However, given the street smartness of MS Dhoni on the field, the BCCI feel that his presence would be beneficial for the players as well, as they attempt to follow on the path of the England team and adopt fearless cricket going forward.
