The last dance: Why should a decision on Dhoni be left to Dhoni himself?

England has never been an easy place to tour for Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the batsman. The ball generally tends to move around and it does enough to throw him off-balance. And Dhoni doesn’t like off-balance. He likes to be in control and of late, things just haven’t gone the way he would have liked them to.

Dhoni also doesn’t make excuses. Mostly, because – these days – he rarely chooses to talk. He avoids the media. He avoids speaking publicly. He usually speaks only to people in his close circle. But as the crowd booed him during his 59-ball 37 at Lord’s during the second ODI even he would have grudgingly acknowledged that this isn’t the path he would have chosen to adopt if given an option.

The former skipper’s greatest strength has always been his understanding of match situations. While the rest would wonder, Dhoni just knew… he always knew what to do. But on that day, the big hits didn’t come easily – not even when he was well set. His usual style of play has always seen him take a while to get set but once he did, he acquired a knack of finishing games well.

The third ODI saw more of the same. Dhoni was in for 90 minutes and scored 42 runs off 66 balls. His strike-rate was 63.63. And while nobody would say he should be dropped right away, it does plant a seed of doubt in the minds of all those watching. He is already 37 and by the time the 2019 World Cup (May 30 - July 15) comes around, he will be still older… still slower.

“I have not seen MS play so many dot balls a couple of years back,” said Gautam Gambhir after last two ODIs. “There is something which he really needs to work on. Normally MS Dhoni is someone who takes his time. But then he is able to be aggressive in the last ten overs. But that is clearly missing in the last two games.”

With around 18 matches left to go before the World Cup, if India wants to switch to another keeper, the time is now. You’d want to give the other keeper enough time to get used to the slot and the responsibility before the big tournament. It is not an easy call to make for anyone. But for now, the decision seems to depend on Dhoni himself.

While the team, the BCCI and the selectors have remained mum on the issue, Sachin Tendulkar waded into the debate.

“The player only has to take the call. A player of his calibre, who has been around for a long time, knows what is expected of him. And where he stands. So, I will leave the decision to him,” Tendulkar told Mumbai Mirror.

“He has played enough cricket and he understands his game better than anyone else. He understands his own mindset too. So, I think one should leave everything to him. Being a colleague of him, I know of him and I think he is the best person to decide on his career.”

But leaving everything to a player may not always be the best choice.

Sachin Tendulkar should know better than most. Not because he is one of the greatest cricketers ever, but simply because his last two years in Test cricket were a far cry from his usual standards. In 2012, he scored just 357 runs at an average of 23.80 in nine Tests. It was his worst year since 2003, when he averaged just 17 in five Tests. 2013 was a little better – he averaged 34.50 in six Tests and only a hastily scheduled series against the West Indies finally allowed him to play his 200th Test and then retire.

Many then felt that Tendulkar should have called it quits long before he actually did. It was an excruciating wait; one that wasn’t easy for Tendulkar; one that many failed to understand. Tendulkar was the undroppable then, just as Dhoni is the undroppable now. Indeed, how does one drop a legend?

The argument

Michael Bevan was in the eyes of many the best ODI cricketer in the world. He had an ODI average of 53.58 when a very good ODI average was anything over 40. But Australia decided to drop him because they felt they had someone who could do better. That someone happened to be Michael Hussey and they weren’t wrong.

Bevan used to score at a strike-rate of 74.16. Hussey was striking the ball at 87.16 and the difference in averages was negligible. Point being – does India have a better replacement?

That is the tricky bit as the one that Dhoni cannot be the judge of himself and he must not be relied to either.

India’s middle order troubles are real. Since the previous World Cup, 11 players have batted five or more times in India’s middle order (Nos 4-7). Kohli and Co have gone through players in the desperate hope to find someone who may fit the bill and Dhoni’s loss of form this year has only compounded the problem. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

India’s team cruises when the top three get going – 64% of the runs in the England series were scored by them. But rarely, if ever, will matches call just three batsmen into action and that is why India needs Dhoni to do more. Sunil Gavaskar feels that way. Sourav Ganguly feels that way too. But do the selectors feel that way?

The big question that the selectors have in front of them is a simple one: Do they have a player who can do a better job for the team than Dhoni?

Dhoni’s contribution to the side goes beyond just his batting. His keeping is brilliant in an understated way but he is also seen providing valuable inputs to Kohli and the team management. So can a Rishabh Pant bring more to the table than Dhoni? Can Dinesh Karthik, who is already in the team as a pure batsman, step in to fill the breach successfully? Or does a Sanju Samson make the cut?

Dhoni will call time when he thinks he is done — he has shown that he is more than capable of taking decisions related to his cricket career. But will Dhoni’s timing be the best for India too?

The selectors are there for a reason. They are paid the big bucks for a reason and sometimes, they need to take hard decisions if they are indeed the need of the hour. If Dhoni believes it is time, then so be it. But if the selectors feel that he isn’t doing as much, they must not be blinded by his legend.

The big picture for India is the World Cup – every other ODI has zero context. So if Kohli wanted to experiment during the ODI series in England, that’s fine. But it should also have been a moment for the selectors to take note and perhaps, even put a legend on notice.

Corrections and clarifications: An earlier version of this article erroneously stated that Tendulkar scored his 100th international century against West Indies in his final Test. This error has been rectified.