Indian wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni made his debut for India in 2004 and since then he has added many feathers to his cap.
Under his captaincy, which he gained in 2007, India won the World T20 2007, ODI World Cup 2011 and Champions Trophy 2013, making him the only skipper in cricket history to do so.
He is now playing just as a team member, after he gave up the captaincy of limited overs in January 2017 and has been under the scanner ever since.
There are calls for dropping him from the side so that young lads like Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson can get a chance.
But Dhoni has clearly mentioned that he is looking forward to playing in the World Cup in 2019 and wants to win the ODI title once again for India.
Dhoni’s experience to guide a young team led by Virat Kohli in World Cup 2019 will be quite beneficial. Dhoni’s presence in the dressing room and on the field will be quite helpful for Kohli. Virat has also mentioned many times that he is in a learning phase of captaincy in limited overs format and seeks help from MSD on and off the field.
As we all know, Dhoni has one of the greatest cricketing brains in the game and his assistance to Kohli’s leadership is vital. On many occasions, we have seen MSD helping his captain in setting fields and strategy to get rid of the best batsmen of the opposition.
Talking about his Dhoni’s batting, he bats at no.5 or 6 and builds the innings, as the responsibility to finish the innings has been passed onto Hardik Pandya and Kedar Jadhav. Dhoni can easily partner with Kohli to build a chase, as they are the best chasers in the world and terrific runners between the wicket.
The ice cool head that of Dhoni will come in handy in guiding the young minds of Kedar and Hardik through a tough chase.
Talking about Dhoni’s wicketkeeping, Dhoni is still the best wicketkeeper in the world by a long margin. We all have seen his smart glovework which comes in handy on times when a wicket was produced out of nowhere. How can we forget him run-out Ross Taylor in the New Zealand ODI series some time back, with a no-look flick onto the stumps? One cannot put a finger on Dhoni for his work behind the stumps.
Talking about his fitness, well he is lightning fast behind the stumps and in running between the wickets still after playing 10 years of cricket. So there are no concerns over his fitness at all.
The only thing going against him is that his finishing ability has declined and that his due to his reduced powerless of hitting big shots which he used to play earlier.
But the final thing to say here is that whether Dhoni can finish the game or not, India requires him in the team just because of his immense experience and wicket-keeping skills.
Whenever he retires, he will leave the Indian team with a ready wicketkeeper, who will learn from Dhoni, whether it is Pant or Samson or anyone else, so that India has a newcomer by the time Dhoni hangs up his gloves.
