5 Reasons Indians for which may hate MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni is probably the sole cricketer, who despite achieving tremendous glory for his country, is hated as much as he is admired by the Indian fans. Ever since Dhoni made his debut in International cricket in 2004, the limited-overs skipper has endured a roller-coaster ride in the game.

Dhoni as captain has managed to take his team to peak by winning the 2007 ICC World T20, the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup at home and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, among other feats. He is also India’s most successful captain, having won more Tests and ODIs than any other captain. But MS Dhoni has been criticised over the years for his poor Test record overseas. Apart from his poor Test record, the fact that Dhoni had a say over the selection (read non-selection) of seniors in the team on many occasions, did not go well with many fans.

Here are the top 5 reasons why MS Dhoni is hated by Indians fans:

#1 Faith in few players despite their poor form

 

 

Captain Cool is often remembered for keeping faith in his favourite players and has sometimes backed the cricketers despite their continous poor performance. Dhoni’s faith in Jadeja didn’t produce expected results. After his dream performance in the 2013 Champions Trophy, Jadeja’s form slowly saw a dip. Jadeja was surprisingly picked in the playing XI ahead of Ashwin during India’s tours of NZ and England in 2014 and had forgettable outings.

Jadeja never really threatened batsmen and leaked runs regularly. His wayward bowling on overseas pitches was condemned by former cricketers. Despite his poor performances, Dhoni persisted with the him, inviting flak from senior cricketers, before Jadeja was subsequently dropped.

#2 Exclusion of senior players

 

 Since his debut in Captaincy in 2007, many youngsters were given a chance to play for India. But this also meant that seniors had to be omitted from the squad. After India’s disastrous 2007 World Cup campaign, seniors in the team including Dravid,  Tendulkar, Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly drew criticism from all quarters. It was only then that Dhoni was formally appointed captain after Dravid stepped down. Barring Tendulkar, other seniors were dropped from the future ODI tours.


Despite producing match-winning performances in the World Cup 2011 , many players like Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag did not get too many chances . None of these stars featured in the 2015 World Cup probables list and Dhoni was speculated to have influenced the non-selection of these players and fans of the aforementioned cricketers did not take the news well.

#3 Poor Overseas Tests Record as captain

When Dhoni took over the test captaincy from Kumble in 2008, a lot was expected from the Indian skipper to emulate his limited-overs form. Initially, the skipper seemed to have repaid the selector’s faith in his Test captaincy with a host of home series wins involving the mighty Aussie, New Zealand and other top teams. MS even led the team to the No. 1 position in Test rankings, for the first time in history. He also became India’s most successful test skipper when he eclipsed Sourav Ganguly’s record of 21 Test victories.

However, the worst was yet to come. India failed to win any overseas series from 2011 onwards, having lost embarrassingly to Australia & England by 4-Nill, and also failing to win against South Africa and New Zealand on their turf. In Dhoni’s last series against Australia down under which India again lost, there were talks about changing the Test skipper. But Captain Cool soon after announced his retirement from Test cricket.

 

#4 Preference to CSK players

Another prominent aspect about Dhoni which raised eyebrows was his preference to give opportunities to cricketers from CSK. Dhoni has been captain of the CSK team since the inaugural edition of the IPL, and even led the team to victory in two seasons, 2010 and 2011.

There is no doubt that IPL has produced some exceptional Indian talent over the years, with players like Pathan, Raina, Ravi Ashwin and others excelling for India in national colours.



However, with Dhoni’s role as skipper speculated to have influenced selection over the years, there has been criticism over the fact that the Indian captain has given more opportunities to players from the CSK squad, ahead of many other deserving cricketers in the country.

#5 Dhoni’s fading finishing ability

 

 

MS Dhoni is considered to be one of the greatest finishers of the game. His finishing style is the stuff of legends. There have been numerous occasions where Captain Cool has pushed India over the finishing line, and in the process, earned that incredible distinction of the No. 1 finisher in the game.



Notable games include the 2011 ICC World cup final, where MS finished the match with a Six. Another wonderful example of his exploits includes his match-winning performance in the tri-series final, involving hosts West Indies and Sri Lanka in 2013.



However, there are times when MS couldn’t finish the match, even though India were on the cusp of victory. Dhoni’s finishing ability has seen a decline over the last few months. During India’s tour of England in 2014, India who were chasing 180 in the lone T20 game, were cruising at one point at 131-2, with 50 runs needed off 34 balls. Requiring 17 to win off the last over, Dhoni started off well, but he refused a single on two occasions to Ambati Rayudu. India narrowly lost that match by just 3 runs and Dhoni drew sharp criticism over his behaviour.

MUST ALSO READ:6 reasons why you still love Dhoni ? 



source:cricheaven.com

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