"Dhoni failed to inspire his team"

"  MS Dhoni is a serial offender in those Indian debacles. In all three cases - the first two full series and the last three Tests of the recent capitulation - his captaincy failed to inspire the team. If anything, his style of leadership contributed greatly to their demise. From the moment he went on the defensive on the first day of the third Test, India's fortunes reversed quicker than a rat in retreat. His reactive, asleep-at-the-wheel captaincy was in direct contrast to the aggressive, proactive leadership he provided at Lord's," Chappel  said in his column in ESPNcricinfo.

"And it wasn't only Dhoni's captaincy that hurt India. His wicketkeeping has regressed to the point where it is not only adversely affecting the bowlers but also the slip cordon. First slip is a hazardous zone because Dhoni has given up attempting to catch anything other than a straightforward gift on the batsman's off side. Not only does his inactivity serve to narrow the reach of the slip cordon, it also creates confusion in the mind of the first-slip fielder. While Dhoni's flaws don't explain the woeful technique that caused an extraordinary number of chances to be floored in the slips, it certainly accounted for a few of the hard-handed mishaps at first slip," he said.

He said   finding Dhoni's replacement as a Test skipper is a 'headache' for India.

"One of India's biggest headaches is finding a replacement for Dhoni as Test captain, following the repeated batting failures of his logical successor Virat Kohli," Chappel said.

He said: "If India continue to bat, bowl and field poorly and fail to compete at full throttle under Dhoni's lacklustre captaincy, then another capitulation is certain to follow against a highly competitive Australian outfit."

India lost the Test series against England 3-1 despite winning the second Test and moving up the series 1-0.