Why Dhoni should quit and let Kohli lead

The bigger the star, the faster he falls. Put Mahendra Singh Dhoni as an example and you will know what I am talking about. Not so long ago, the Indian ODI captain was at the Sydney Cricket Ground, egged on by a wave of blue, and just a game away from making it to the World Cup 2015 Finals. But with just a couple of lost games in Bangladesh, the most powerful man in Indian cricket - the only captain to have won all the three ICC tournaments - seems to have run out of friends and confidantes within the dressing room.

Innuendo

I am going to invoke one of Newton's most famous Laws of Motion - Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The action: One day Dhoni came out, mocked the media and played the emotional card. If I am responsible for the defeats, he said, take away the captaincy from me. The reaction: Soon, Ravichandran Ashwin, India's most potent bowler in subcontinental conditions, and Dhoni's teammate in the Chennai Super Kings demanded that we all have respect for his skipper and said that he could "die for him".

Then, having won the Man of the Match award in the last game, Suresh Raina, another of Dhoni's CSK friends, said Dhoni had done so much for the country, one bad series could never be a mirror by which to judge him. But the biggest and most unexpected reaction came from India's Test captain Virat Kohli. Assessing India's shoddy play in the recent ODIs Kohli stated frankly "Our decision-making has been doubtful... Our players haven't been able to express themselves."

It has been more than 36 hours at the time of going to print since Kohli's stunning comments, and with all the innuendo and conspiracy theories flying around, he still hasn't cleared the air as to whose "doubtful decision-making" didn't let the players express themselves. Unlike others, I refuse to believe it is a salvo at Dhoni. Why? Because Kohli himself was India's biggest letdown in the series, scoring a mere 49 in the three ODI innings he played.

But if Dhoni and Kohli aren't sitting in the same corner of the dressing room any more, there cannot be any winners. The BCCI has to seek the manager's report and based on that decide on the way forward. It is critical to know what prompted all these reactions of the week gone by: Is it indeed Dhoni-versus-Kohli? Why is Dhoni feeling the heat on his ODI throne? Have things been said or made apparent to him by a few in the dressing room? And, has the wheel come full circle for Dhoni?

Burden

At the risk of annoying most of the country's cricket fans, I feel it is time for Dhoni to give up the ODI captaincy. He has had a great career, both as an ODI captain and player, but if he wants to play for a couple of years or more, he should ease his burden, concentrate on his own game and let Kohli develop his vision and his team for the future.

In a nation obsessed by World Cups, that would mean allowing Kohli to have a full four years to get set to win World Cup 2019. Also, by continuing as another year or two as ODI captain, is Dhoni now going to achieve anything? No!

The current situation in the Indian team, where a 26-year-old youngster leads in Tests but plays under a much older captain in the ODIs will naturally divide the team. While one will keep waiting for the throne to be handed to him, the other will be just like a golden leaf in autumn, clinging on and hoping to survive another day. India can't afford to merely survive. They have to move on.

Nudging

Leadership has a shelf life and Steve Waugh - one of the world's most successful captains - once famously said it took five-six years before the stagnation set in. Dhoni was lucky to have captained India in Tests and ODIs in an era when the legends were still around and the Sehwags, the Yuvrajs, the Zaheers and the Harbhajans were match winners in their own right. He rebuilt a young team a couple of years back and tasted success but in this very period Dhoni's detractors claim that he had strong personal likes and dislikes. Some like Ravindra Jadeja were favoured, while Dhoni's dropping of Ajinkya Rahane was believed to have peeved Kohli because Rahane has been a prolific run getter for India in Tests. Kohli clearly believed he could do the same in the ODIs.

No Indian captain event wants to leave the job, because of the fame, attention and most importantly - commercial endorsements. However, if Dhoni does not stand down soon, he runs the risk of being nudged. Now that Kohli has shown the requisite talent and temperament for the top job, he has to be trusted, both by selectors as well as Dhoni.

Just like what the Tendulkars or Dravids were to Dhoni; MSD has to be for Kohli now. Dhoni still has a lot to offer in ODIs as the move to bat at No 4 in Bangladesh showed and his presence as a senior player may bind the team together and will help both Kohli and India.