Is it Dhoni's turn to get stumped?

World Cup T20 2007, World Cup 2011, Champions Trophy 2013 and ICC world number 1 in tests, only one person can stake his claim on these trophies – MS Dhoni. These trophies are without counting multiple IPL and Champions League wins he has as Chennai Super Kings captain. If there were a trophy for winning most number of trophies it would undoubtedly go to MS Dhoni. But recently with onset of grey hair he has lost some of his mojo which made a most vaunted captain in international arena. In India if a person fails even once his head is demanded on a spike. So multiple failures of Dhoni as a captain has raised the decibel levels of people demanding his ouster. Is it justified to remove a captain whose worth has stood the test of time?
Though Indian team’s result overseas in ODIs and Tests has been less than stellar, not much wrong can be said of MS Dhoni’s individual performance. He has been sole performer in India’s star studded batting department. If the batsmen aren’t performing as well as they should have there is not much a captain can do about it. He can’t very well go and replace a batsman and score runs on his behalf. But lousy bowling performance can somewhat be blamed on him especially in Tests when it is the captain who drives the fielding unit by bowling changes, field placing and choosing bowlers. Especially in tests when batsmen get settled Dhoni has a tendency of getting a bit too defensive which has been rightly criticized by the former players. Demanding Dhoni’s resignation as Test captain is a bit justified and it would also help Dhoni concentrate on his own game. But in case of ODIS it is the bowlers who have to bear lion share of blame. With fielding restrictions in place and maximum 4 fielders allowed outside the 30 yard circle, the onus is more on bowlers than captain. If the bowlers don’t stick to their line and length they are bound to be smacked around the park. A captain can’t place fielders in the stands. Moreover there is a World Cup scheduled next year so changing captain at this crucial juncture isn’t recommended. There has to be minimal change in team structure with more focus on finalizing the core team.
If at all one chooses to replace Dhoni then the question is which player can possibly be his successor. Few name doing rounds are Kohli, Gambhir and Raina. Kohli tough has been a terrific performer for team India but he has rarely shown a spark as a captain for his IPl franchise. If we consider Gambhir and Raina both haven’t been in their prime form and were dropped recently from the national side. To sum it up though there have been pitfalls during Dhoni’s reign but there is no worthy replacer to lead team India. So India should stick to Dhoni at least until next World Cup and may be till then we can find a worthy successor.