Kirmani bats for underfire Dhoni, downplays string of losses

Former stumper Syed Kirmani today backed Mahendra Singhi Dhoni's captaincy, saying too much should not be read into India's fourth consecutive series loss overseas as he felt every team goes through a bad phase.
"It does not matter whether it is four losses or five. Every team goes through it. Every individual goes through a bad form. We are going through a bad form overall. You cannot be expecting Dhoni to win all the series at all the times or all the formats at all the times. It is a combat between the ball and the bat," he told reporters here.

"It should not be a matter of concern. It happens to everybody in their lives, not only in sports. You cannot be in form all the time."
India have lost their last four series abroad starting with the 4-0 rout suffered in England and ending with the 0-1 loss to New Zealand today.
The 64-year old cricketer-turned-golfer said at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club in Chembur that critics and fans need to be patient with the team.
"It happens to every individual cricketer, to every team as well. You have got to accept certain defeats. You have to be patient and you can't be criticising a man who has done great things for the country. He has brought some sweeping changes into the game and he is one of those leaders leading from the front," said Kirmani.

Asked if coach Duncan Fletcher needs to be replaced, Kirmani said that coaches play a minuscule role in the success or otherwise of a team.
"I give only 5 per cent to a coach. It is the captain and the players who have to take an instinctive decision on the field. The coach sits inside the four walls of a dressing room and formulates a strategy and a game plan, whereas in the middle you have to take the strategy or the game plan instantly looking into the circumstances.
"The entire credit goes to the captain and the discredit when they lose. Now you are criticising Dhoni's captaincy. When he was winning, he had the same strategy, the same game plan.