Mahendra Singh Dhoni may well be past his prime but for his Indian teammates and especially spinners who benefited tremendously from his advice from behind the stumps, Dhoni still has it in him to play for India. Indian left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav has batted for MS Dhoni’s inclusion in the team for the ICC T20 World Cup scheduled to take place in Australia at the year-end. “ As a fan, I absolutely love him. If he plays, it would be easier for us [India].”Kuldeep has opined in a chat with Sportskeeda.
The chinaman spinner also said that the decision of Dhoni’s retirement should be taken by the man himself and there is no point debating over the issue. He found MS Dhoni fit enough to play.
Earlier, Kuldeep had credited Dhoni’s advice for the kind of success he has achieved in international cricket. He had recalled Dhoni’s advice to spin the ball instead of bowling with fuller trajectories. He had said that the advice he got from Dhoni was similar to his bowling childhood coach and hence Dhoni never made him feel like a stranger on the ground.
The ongoing Coronavirus crisis across the world and a prolonged lockdown in India has halted MS Dhoni’s planned comeback to competitive cricket. He had joined the training camp with his IPL franchise team Chennai Super Kings but the initial delays in the start of IPL until April 15 and then for an indefinite period stopped him to press on for a place in the Indian squad.
Lack of competitive cricket and the cancelation of IPL have raised doubts on any chances for MS Dhoni to mark a comeback to the Indian team. Experts such as Sunil Gavaskar and Kris Shrikanth have all but given up on MS Dhoni’s career as an Indian international cricketer.
MS Dhoni last played in Indian colours last year in a losing cause against New Zealand in the ICC World Cup 2019. He was dismissed in the last over of the Indian chase by a direct hit from Martin Guptill and with his wicket, the curtain was drawn over India’s chance for a place in the final.