My gut feeling driven by logic and experience: Dhoni

July 7, 2014

Nottingham, Jul 7: Being instinctive is seen as Mahendra Singh Dhoni's best attributes but the man who has captained India to unprecedented highs in the last seven years reveals that his often talked about gut feeling is backed by cold logic.Dhoni

In a rare interview on his 33rd birthday, Dhoni recollected the time he was made captain before the World Twenty20 in 2007, how he dealt with the senior players, his leadership style and how it is to shoulder the team of a cricket crazy nation.

Talking about the trait which helped him guide India to the No.1 Test sport, 2011 World Cup, 2007 World Twenty20 and most recently the Champions Trophy last year, Dhoni says he relies on his past experiences to act instinctively on the field.

"I don't plan a lot and believe in my gut feel. But what many people don't understand is that to have that gut feel, you have to have experienced that thing before," Dhoni told the bcci.tv.

"For instance, you don't know anything about bikes. I open one of my bike engines and keep it in front of you and ask you 'which model does your gut feeling say this engine belongs to', you will be clueless. You won't have a gut feeling because you don't know anything about the object there.

"My gut feeling comes from my past experiences of all the cricket I've played in my life and the situations I have faced. It's not something you just feel for a moment without any logic," said Dhoni, who faces one of the biggest challenges in his career when India take on England in the first of five Tests at Nottingham from July 9.

One could feel a lot of pressure as a leader in the presence of seniors in the dressing room, something Dhoni had to deal with when Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly were around. But now he leads a side in transition.

"The best thing about the senior players was that with their experience they had a lot of ideas and suggestions to give me. But more importantly, if I didn't agree with some things they said, I could tell them so.

"They were absolutely fine with it and after 10-15 minutes would again come up with a different idea or options and then leave it to me, give me a few deliveries to think about it and decide."

"That really gave me the comfort of knowing that I can be honest and straightforward with them without the fear of offending them. Because of them I was able to be myself and develop my own style of captaincy," Dhoni said lauding the "Big Four".

How are things now? "Right now the situation is very different. Although I am leading a young team, I don't like to give a plan that the bowler is not comfortable implementing. So I let the bowlers start off with their own plan and own fields and encourage them to think for themselves."

He is one of biggest of names in world cricket but seven seasons ago not many would have thought that the wicketkeeper-batsman would achieve what he has and possibly there is more to come with the 50-over World Cup early next year.

Dhoni admitted he was surprised at his elevation and said Tendulkar played a role in it.

"It did (surprise me), because I was never really aiming for captaincy. For me, being a part of the team is much more important than being the captain."

On Tendulkar's role, he said, "I think it was more about the interactions that I had with them. For instance, whenever Sachin came on to bowl – and because he could bowl so many different deliveries – he would ask me what the best ball would be – seam-up, leg-spin, off-spin – depending on the wicket and the batsman. Perhaps the honest opinions I gave him at these points made him believe that I read the game well."

How does he rate the big trophies India have won under his captaincy?

"I don't think I will ever be able to pick one and say, 'this is the closest to my heart'. They all are," said Dhoni.

Last but not the least, he gave a sneak peek into what he plans to do post his playing days.

"The good thing is that I do collect a lot of stumps but the bad one is I don't put a mark as to which match they were from. So, after I retire I'll watch the videos of all my matches, look closely at the sponsors logos on the stumps and figure out which match a stump belongs to. It will be my post-cricket pass time!"

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Sunday said the Women's IPL or the Challenger series, as it is better known, is "very much on", ending speculation about the parent body not having a plan for Harmanpreet Kaur and her team.

The men's IPL will be held between September 19 and November 8 or 10 (final date yet to be locked in) in the UAE due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in India. The women's IPL will also be fit in to the schedule, according to the BCCI chief.

"I can confirm to you that the women's IPL is very much on and we do have a plan in place for the national team also," Ganguly told PTI ahead of the IPL Governing Council meeting later on Sunday.

The BCCI president, who is awaiting a Supreme Court verdict on waiver of the cooling-off period to continue in the position, did not divulge details but another senior official privy to the development said that women's Challenger will be held during the last phase of IPL like last year.

"The women's Challenger series is likely to be held between November 1-10 and there could be a camp before that," the source said.

The former India captain also said that the centrally contracted women players will have a camp which has been delayed due to the prevailing situation in the country.

"We couldn't have exposed any of our cricketers -- be it male or female to health risk. It would have been dangerous," Ganguly said.

"The NCA also remained shut because of Covid-19. But we have a plan in place and we will have a camp for women, I can tell you that," he added.

The BCCI's cricket operations team is chalking up a schedule where Indian women are likely to have two full-fledged white-ball series against South Africa and the West Indies before playing the ODI World Cup in New Zealand. 

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News Network
January 27,2020

Hamilton, Jan 27: In awe of Jasprit Bumrah, New Zealand wicketkeeper Tim Seifert says the Indian speedster's subtle variations have been difficult to pick in the ongoing T20 series and his side needs to a learn a thing or two about adapting from the visitors.

India beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the second T20 International in Auckland on Sunday to grab a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Bumrah returned with figures of 1-21 from his four overs as Indian skipper Virat Kohli changed his bowling plans from the first game.

"Even in the first game, Bumrah bowled slower balls that were going wider. Normally, death bowlers get into straighter lines, plus yorkers and mix it with chest height. He kind of changes things a lot and is tougher to play," Seifert said.

"...the ball was holding a lot more which made it tougher. So sometimes as a batsman you have to move away from the stumps and see if they bowl straight. I was backing myself to do something different instead of just standing there at the wicket," said the stumper, who remained unbeaten on 33 off 26 balls.

"It was tricky and the ball was holding a little bit. When Kane (Williamson) got out in the over against Yuzvendra Chahal, we knew it was the over to push because they had Bumrah coming back," he added.

He said New Zealand batsmen need to take a cue from their Indian counterparts on how to adapt to different conditions quickly.

"...Indian batsmen showed how to get under the ball and time it. They showed it a couple of times that and on the slower wickets you just have to keep it like that. Once you lose your shape, you are not in position," he said.

"Try to get them (bowlers) off line or off balance, try to get into that position to hit good balls. That's T20 cricket as well. Sometimes it's going 100 per cent but some times you have to take a breath and re-assess. Indian batters did that well."

Seifert believes New Zealand bowlers did reasonably well in the two games but they have been outplayed by the Indian batsmen.

"To be honest, in the first game they were 110-1 and they had wickets in hand. We didn't bowl too badly in that first game. In the second game, we only got 130 and it is tough to bowl at Eden Park (with that total)," he said.

"170 was the target in mind but once you get 130 on the board, that was going to be very hard at Eden Park against a team that is very strong and playing really well. But our spinners were outstanding. Good balls have gone to boundary.

He said coming into the T20 series on the back of a lost Test rubber in Australia also didn't help New Zealand's cause in the first two games.

"Boys are coming off a Test series (in Australia) and a lot of them haven't played T20 cricket for a while," he said.

"But for some like me, I have had the Super Smash for the last two months, so I have played a lot of T20 cricket. They have two games under their belt now so hopefully they will have a better understanding."

Asked if New Zealand would want to play on India's strength of chasing, Seifert replied, "Even in ODI cricket, India have chased down big totals but I think on that wicket it was going to get slower and slower.

"But with that small target on Eden Park, something special has to happen with top six (for a collapse). One batsman got fifty and the other was batting very well. We needed top five-six in the first 10 overs," he said.

The Black Caps are still confident of bouncing back in the series.

The third T20 will be played here on Wednesday before back-to-back matches in Wellington and Mt Maunganui. Seifert said they would like to replicate the 2019 tour of India, where New Zealand came out 2-1 victorious in the three-match series.

"We have lost the first two games but we haven't played badly. We definitely haven't played our best though while India has played very well. If we lose the series on Wednesday, it is not the end of the world. But if we can turn things around, and win, we will take things from there," he said.

"We won the series 2-1 last time, so we have to treat it like a three match series again. But we have to treat it like the first two are must-win games."

"We are not playing our best at the moment. There are 20-odd games before the World Cup, and that tournament is the pinnacle, so we will get there (in preparation),” he signed off.

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News Network
March 4,2020

Sydney, Mar 4: Teenage Indian batting sensation Shafali Verma on Wednesday rose to the top spot in the ICC women's T20 International rankings, riding on her stellar run at the ongoing World Cup here.

The 16-year-old Verma takes over from New Zealand's Suzie Bates, who had been the top batter since October 2018 after wresting the spot from West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor.

However, Smriti Mandhana has slipped a couple of rungs to sixth in the latest list.

Verma and England spinner Sophie Ecclestone will go into the semifinals of the event as the top ranked batter and bowler respectively. India will take on England on Thursday.

Verma's explosive batting at the top of the order saw her score 161 runs in four innings, including knocks of 47 and 46 against Sri Lanka and New Zealand. It helped her become only the second India batter after Mithali Raj to top the women's T20I batting rankings, according to an ICC statement.

Ecclestone, who took eight wickets in four matches including a best of three for seven against the West Indies, is the first England bowler to be number one since Anya Shrubsole in April 2016 and the first England spinner at the top since Danni Hazell in August 2015.

Among the Indian bowlers, Poonam Yadav is up four places to eighth after a good run in World Cup.

Some valiant performances from Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu have seen her move from 18th to 14th spot for batters.

England's Nat Sciver is again in the top 10 and captain Heather Knight in the top 15 for the first time.

South Africa opener Laura Wolvaardt has advanced 23 places to 44th, while Pakistan's Aliya Riaz has gained 24 places and is 48th while New Zealand's Maddy Green is in the top 100 after advancing 28 slots.

In the bowlers' list, leg-spinners Amelia Kerr of New Zealand (up two places to fourth) and Australia's George Wareham (up nine places to 10th) have made significant gains in the latest rankings update.

Other bowlers to advance include new-ball bowler Diana Baig of Pakistan (up 34 places to 13th), Shashikala Siriwardena of Sri Lanka (up seven places to 14th), Anya Shrubsole of England (up five places to 17th), Dane van Niekerk of South Africa (up 12 places to joint-22nd) and Shikha Pandey of India (up 23 places to joint-22nd).

New Zealand captain Sophie Devine is now the sole number one all-rounder after coming into the tournament as a joint number one along with Australia all-rounder Ellyse Perry.

India's Deepti Sharma has advanced nine places to seventh, the first time that she is among the top 10 in the all-rounders' list after also moving up to 53rd among batters.

Australia remain at the top of the T20I team rankings with 290 points and England in second position with 278.

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