After MS Dhoni's Exit, A Chaos Is Guaranteed In Virat’s Team India

There are 2 IPL to look into before thinking about the T20 World Cup. And there are 2 T20 World Cups to worry about before concentrating about the 50-over World Cup. Plus a whole bunch of new selectors changes the equation.

Now what?

Oh yes, Team India does have a robust bench strength now that, after 1929 hours on August 15^th, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is now considered as retired. In Rishabh Pant, In Sanju Samson, and an alternative wicketkeeper in KL Rahul.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni always kept the team above any individual, even himself, and thus gave Team India a head start of 1 whole year to figure, what next? Importantly, Team India’s struggles with wicketkeepers have irritatingly been relapsing.

After Nayan Mongia, who was the stable wicketkeeper the team had before Dhoni entered in 2004, selectors had tried Saba Karim, MSK Prasad, Sameer Dighe, Vijay Dahiya, Deep Das Gupta, Ajay Ratra, Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik. Not to speak about Rahul Dravid keeping wickets in between.

The Post-Dhoni era is eerily similar to the pre-Dhoni era.

Saba and MSK were tried even when Mongia was around but didn’t work out for a variety of reasons. Pant and Samson were tried even when Dhoni was along but there was a complete lack of confidence. Like Sourav with Dravid, Virat is now trying the same with Rahul. Even after Dhoni quit the Test scene four years back, India still went back to Karthik and Parthiv Patel briefly and even now juggling hesitantly with Wriddhiman Saha and Pant in the red-ball format.

There is a whole lot of semantics to worry about before Team India can pinpoint the replacement for Dhoni? There are 2 IPL to look into before thinking about the T20 World Cup. There are 2 T20 World Cups to worry about before concentrating on the 50-over World Cup. The process of differentiating between the two white-ball formats seems difficult in the Team India context.

And then, there will be a whole new set of selectors. Sunil Joshi and Harvinder Singh, due to COVID striking, haven’t yet selected a team despite their appointment four months back. And next month Devang Gandhi, Sarandeep Singh, and Jatin Paranjpe will also be completing their tenure. So before Team India pinpoints on their next keeper in white-ball, new selectors will have their say.

It will be Virat and coach Ravi Shastri’s decision on which aspect of Dhoni’s vast abilities they want to fill, which will finally decide on who will be the next candidate. Is it the keeper? Is it the finisher? Is it the dependable batsman? Is it the explosive batsman? Karthik is still the best finisher, Pant the most explosive, Samson more dependable and Rahul is the answer if team management decides on the none-of-the-above option.

Team India’s balance in the T20 format is tilted heavily as top-heavy, with Rahul, Rohit, Virat, and Shikhar. Virat is clear on the need to find someone who can weigh in the middle order and finish games with aplomb. The team management is clear on the search to find that balance and the players for mounting their next World Cup challenge.

It’s futile to find the next Dhoni. It’s important to look at the role required rather than the designation of a wicketkeeper. But come what may, chaos in the team is set to happen.

Brace up.