Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the players who earned more honors, or garnered more laurels for Indian team has been playing for Team India since 12 years. Started off with the world cup in T20 Internationals, he led India in winning several other crucial trophies all the way which was usually unexpected and never earned before.
Once again after a while, the discussion on Dhoni’s retirement has come out after India lost the T20 match to New Zealand yesterday. At that point of the match when Dhoni is on strike, India needed more than 10-12 runs an over, the former captain struggled to get going and thereby put pressure on his partner, who was looking good for a three-figure score.
It was pretty clear that Kohli seemed to have felt the pressure as he played an uncharacteristic shot and got dismissed for 65 in the 17th over. Though Dhoni hit a few big ones towards the end, they were never going to take India past the line as the required run rate had shot up beyond India’s grasp.
After all, now that, it is pretty clear that Dhoni is not playing as he did before. There are certain comments on taking him down, which were clearly on screen with the slip in his striking position. Considering the poor form of the 36-year-old Dhoni former Indian players VVS Laxman, Ajit Agarkar and Akash Chopra have opined their ideas on his retirement.
Post the match, legendary batsman VVS Laxman said, “In T20s, MS Dhoni’s role is at No 4. He requires more time to get his eye in and then do the job. But today [Saturday] was a classic example because when Virat Kohli was batting, Dhoni had to give the strike to Kohli. Kohli’s strike rate was 160, MS Dhoni’s strike rate was 80. That’s not good enough when India was chasing a mammoth total.”
He added: “I still feel it’s time for MS Dhoni to give youngsters a chance in T20 format. It will be an opportunity for a youngster to blossom and get confidence playing international cricket. He is definitely an integral part of ODI cricket.”
Following the huge criticism laid on MS Dhoni, it is death over specialist Bhuvaneshwar has taken a sly dig on both for criticising Dhoni. He said, “We (as a team) don’t think much about that. You look over his records, he is a legend and whatever has he done, he did it for the country. So no one in the team has any doubt about him,” he said.
Next, to him, another prominent player, the veteran hitman Virender Sehwag has come to Dhoni’s rescue. Backing Dhoni, he said, “Team India needs MS Dhoni at the moment, even in T20 cricket. He will step down at the right time. He will never block the way for any young cricketer. Dhoni should realize his role in the team. He has to change the momentum early while chasing a strong total. He has to score from ball one and the team management should make him understand this point”.
After so many contrasting opinions, it is former legendary captain Sourav Ganguly’s statement that surprised everyone. Talking to India TV, he said, “I think the Indian team management needs to have a chat with MS (Dhoni) and discuss his role in the side. He is a big name when it comes to Twenty20 cricket. So before taking any judgment, I believe that he should be given a fair chance to prove himself once again.”
He suggested a changeover in his striking number, added, “The team also needs to think about the 2019 ICC World Cup and if Dhoni is unable to improve in the near future, they need to start looking at other alternatives. I have been saying this for a long time that MS Dhoni should bat higher up the order. If he comes to bat at No. 4, he will have a lot of time to get settled and this will also help in playing his natural game.”
Ganguly concluded, “It is a big thing when your captain is supporting you. Virat (Kohli) has supported Dhoni well during his lean patch and it’s time that he repays that belief with his performance.”
Gautam Gambhir batted for his teammate and cleared that he has to be credited for the way he handled the lows in Indian cricket.
“You need to give credit where (it’s due). (At times) People have criticized his (MSD’s) captaincy. What he has done for Indian cricket, not a lot of people have done that, especially the way he handled the lows. It is very easy to handle the highs. But the way he has handled the lows has been remarkable. Especially in Australia and England (2011-12) where we were hammered (4-0) and still being as calm as he was, not showing too many emotions, (for that) I think a lot of credit needs to go to MS,” he said.
Gambhir was speaking during Kolkata Knight Rider’s weekly TV show Knight Club. He also added that he enjoyed a lot with Mahi while he was captain and gelled nicely with him. “I have played under Sourav (Ganguly), Rahul (Dravid), Viru (Virender Sehwag) and MS (Dhoni). I felt, I enjoyed a lot under MS. (We) had great fun; we are around the same age as well. He was pretty chilled out. He kept things very simple which was very good,” the 36-year-old added.