It’s the final over of the Twenty20 World Cup semi-final against Australia and skipper MS Dhoni calls for an urgent mid-field conference as he, along with his deputy Yuvraj Singh and a few seniors, goes into a huddle. Harbhajan Singh speaks about Virender Sehwag’s big match experience and suggests Dhoni to throw the ball to the part-time offie. But at the end of the long deliberation, it is rookie medium pacer Joginder Sharma who very famously bowls the crucial over and takes India into the final.

Within days he is back on the field as an ODI captain and the huddle has suddenly got a halo over it. That’s what happens when one adds three former skippers and over 1000 ODIs to the collective experience of the eleven men on the field. The advisory panel on the field no longer comprises of subdued seniors trying to make a comeback but sacred stalwarts who are used to passing orders.

The veto that Dhoni so nonchalantly passed as a skipper during the Twenty20 World Cup might require reconsideration, rethink or even outright rejection in the ODIs against Australia. Tongues have already wagged about the influential incumbent in a team that has Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. They say Irfan Pathan’s elevation in the batting line-up in the Bangalore match and the decision to field first at the ‘iffy’ Kochi game had a hint of familiarity and reminded one of mindsets that ruled the team in the past.

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