The return of Ravichandran Ashwin and the absence of Shikhar Dhawan in the Indian squad for T20 World Cup 2021 grabbed the huge attention of fans across the world. However, the biggest talking point emerged after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad was the inclusion of former India skipper MS Dhoni as Team India’s mentor for the global showpiece event.
This will be Dhoni’s first involvement in any way with the national team since his retirement from international cricket last August when he represented India against New Zealand in the semi-final clash of the 2019 World Cup.
Ever since the announcement of Dhoni’s role as a mentor of the Indian team for the multi-team tournament, fans, as well as the experts of the game, have been wondering the reason behind the move, which nobody anticipated.
Amid all the calculations, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has revealed the exact reason why the apex Indian board decided to make Dhoni the mentor of the Indian side led by Virat Kohli. Ganguly said that MSD has tons of experience, which will help the side as India haven’t yet won an ICC trophy since 2013.
“It’s just to help the side in the World Cup. He has a good record in the T20 format for India and the Chennai Super Kings. There has been a lot of thought behind it. We discussed a lot and then decided to have him on board. We haven’t won an ICC trophy since 2013,” Ganguly told The Telegraph.
Notably, India last won an ICC trophy back in 2013 when they defeated England in the final of the Champions Trophy, under the leadership of Dhoni. Interestingly, MSD remains the only captain to win all three major ICC tournaments – the Champions Trophy, T20 World Cup in 2007 and 50-over World Cup in 2011.
Ganguly equated Dhoni’s appointment to Steve Waugh‘s role with the Australian team during the 2019 World Cup, saying that having such cricketing minds in the group help boys do wonders.
“Remember Australia had Steve Waugh in a similar role when they drew the Ashes 2-2 in England the last time. The presence of such heavyweights in big-ticket events always helps,” added Ganguly.
