Under-fire MS Dhoni might lose Test captaincy

NEW DELHI: India's whitewash in Australia - the second in a row overseas for the cricket team - has triggered a big debate in the cricket establishment, throwing up several ideas, some radical, many cosmetic.

An idea finding favour with the BCCI bosses is that MS Dhoni should be stripped of Test captaincy. The current front runner for the captain's position is Virender Sehwag.

This doesn't mean Dhoni would be stripped of all captaincy - he's expected to remain captain for the limited-overs versions of the game, ODI and T20.

For Test matches, though, his captaincy has been found wanting. Meanwhile, Sehwag has made plain that he hasn't got his due (and has begun to view Dhoni as the reason for that) and the cricket bosses think that perhaps he should be given a chance. It's another matter that Sehwag's record as captain, either of India or of Delhi Daredevils, hasn't been great.

While all the senior players, including VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid, have clarified that they won't be retiring from cricket as yet, it doesn't mean that both or either will be selected to play Tests.

Did 'ego clash' with Sehwag affect MSD?

However, what is really disturbing is the talk of "an ego clash" between Dhoni and Sehwag. It's said that this affected Dhoni's captaincy and he couldn't quite assert his authority with Sehwag and a few others.

Dhoni also feels that Sehwag could have done better in Australia if had shown greater discipline while batting. The authorities are examining to what extent this dissension within the team contributed to its debacle in Australia.

Senior players like Sachin Tendulkar, Dravid or Laxman don't have had a problem playing under Dhoni (or under Sehwag, for that matter), but Sehwag has apparently made his opinions clear: he doesn't like Dhoni's way of handling things, be it in selecting the playing XI, field placements during Test matches or the issue of bringing in younger players. He feels that his views have not been heard.

Dhoni's emotional outburst that he was contemplating quitting Tests after 2013 has also not gone down well with BCCI bosses. "There is no point talking about 2013 in the middle of a Test series," an official said.

Incidentally, two senior pros who are under pressure to quit, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, may have decide not to call it a day yet but BCCI officials say that it's apparent that both are past their prime, and it would be wise to blood some youngsters in their place.

The names of Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Cheteshwar Pujara were mentioned in this context. It was also said that once Yuvraj Singh gets fit to play, he will be an "automatic choice".

Changing the Test captain or dropping a couple of seniors may be part of the solution to the crisis facing Indian cricket. But this isn't enough.

The rot is much more systemic and cannot be dealt with by mere changes in personnel in the playing XI. What is needed is a thorough, uncompromising review of a whole range of issues including the structure of domestic cricket, the cricket board and the selection panel.

Such an honest examination, conducted by professionals, can throw up more meaningful solutions. The board must then have the courage to act on those.

Else, we could see couple of seasons of success at home followed by another round of breast beating after a mauling on foreign soil.

When India got whitewashed
India suffered a 4-0 rout with a Test defeat in Adelaide. It would be our worst away streak in a single season - 8 losses, counting the 4-0 in England last July. The previous worst streak was 7 straight Tests losses in 1967-68 (3 vs England and 4 vs Australia)
Season	Opponent	Venue	Result
1959	England	England	England won 5-0
1961-62	West Indies	West Indies	West Indies won 5-0
Four-Test series
1967-68	Australia	Australia	Australia won 4-0
2011	England	England	England won 4-0
2011-12	Australia	Australia	Australia won 4-0
Three-Test series
1967	England	England	England won 3-0
1974	England	England	England won 3-0
1999-00	Australia	Australia	Australia won 3-0