« Back to article

Print this article

MS Dhoni's final chance to save his Test captaincy

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's tenure as Team India's captain thus far can be divided into two halves.

The first half witnessed him leading the team to unprecedented success. 

The journey that began with an unlikely win in the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa (2007), and included a morale-boosting triumph in the Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia (2008) and the ascendancy to the No.1 Test ranking (2009), culminating in Team India winning the 50-overs World Cup on home soil in 2011 - ending a 28-year-old jinx, with the captain sealing the final against Sri Lanka with a six.

However, the period thereafter has been at best forgettable. 

The last two years haven't been good

Successive 4-0 drbbing receive on tour in both England and Australia was followed by an early exit from the World T20 in Sri Lanka. 

What made things worse was a Test series defeat to England at home last year - the first home defeat for Team India in eight years, followed by an equally abject performance in the following One-Day Series against Pakistan which the visitors won 2-1.

While Dhoni has been able to perform credibly in the shorter versions, the burden of captaincy seems to have affected his batting in the longer version, leading many experts to question his credentials as a Test player.

A defeat might force selectors to rethink

Should Team India lose against the visitors from Down Under it might hasten the end of his tenure as a Test captain. 

The absence of successor has forced the selectors to stick to Dhoni but another home loss might just force them to rethink.

Will the series against Australia be the last chance for Dhoni to save his captaincy?

Tell us!