http://www.rediff.com/cricket/slide-show/slide-show-1-australia-tour-india-defensive-india-should-be-ranked-eighth-outside-home-waugh/20120105.htm
Unimpressed with Mahendra Singh Dhoni's leadership skills, former Australia batsman Mark Waugh termed the Indian as a "defensive captain", who just sits back and wait for the opposition to make mistakes.
"They've been very disappointing. They (India) batted terribly and they just looked so lethargic in the field, they don't look like they want to be there," said Waugh.
"The tactics are right out there, very defensive. Dhoni is a very defensive captain. I have watched him a lot and he sits back and tries to see the opposition make mistakes.
"They've really got to change their attitude. They're pretty good at home but away from home they probably should be ranked about eighth," Waugh was quoted as saying by the foxsports.com.au.
A bit too harsh???
India should be ranked 8th – Waugh
posted on 5/1/12
He`s always been harsh. The Dhoni stuff is true though...
posted on 5/1/12
A tad harsh but I have to agree he does get very defensive and looks to individual brilliance rather than smart tactition play.
posted on 5/1/12
Yeah, i think even most of the indian fans ackowledge the dhoni aspect. If they think he's laid-back, they can lend misbah and compare and contrast
posted on 5/1/12
i will still wait for the series to get over, but if the results are like england or close to englands then i will start to accept this fact. we have done well in subcontinent and no one can take that away from india, but seeing that nz, just drew with aus, any result worse than this will just suggest that things need to change. hope tonight is interseting and want to see some fight from these batsman
posted on 5/1/12
i wouldn't plaace too much emphasis on the NZ result, that pitch was a freak occurence, and meant that we could have a strange result.
Dhoni is India's best choice as captain. yes he is a tad defensive, but that is not neccesarily a bad thing.
what India need to do is to become more proffesional. they have players out there, overweight and unfit. They need to do what Gooch did with England in the 1990's and instill that proffessionalism that they need, as well as some fight and some desire.
This will mean weeding out some of the players who do not fit into this ethic. Sehwag springs to mind here, he is playing for himself currently, and is letting the team down. he needs to be told to knuckle down and have some respect for his wicket, a play for the team. Laxman needs to go, he is past it.
India need to blood some of their youngsters like rohit sharma now, to save themselves form the massive vacuum in experience that will be created when sehwag, tendulkar, dravid and laxman retire in the near future.