Has MS Dhoni forgotten his statements from the past?
Dhoni, the only captain to lift all the major ICC tournaments, The ICC World Cup, The ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC World T20; Dhoni, arguably the greatest finisher in limited overs cricket; Dhoni, one of the finest man behind the wickets; Dhoni, one of India's best batsman under pressure in limited overs cricket; Dhoni, one of the best if not the best captain India ever got; Dhoni, a name chanted by millions of fans from around the world.
Dhoni, a liability to the team?
First of all, let us have a look at some of the statements coming from MS Dhoni 'The Captain', addressing the senior players of the Indian cricket team, a few years ago.
“Age is not really a factor in cricket or any other sport. I think form and fitness are what matters."
“If you are fit, performing well and most importantly if you are not a liability to the team, you can make it. I don’t agree with the idea of having a younger side just for the sake of it."
"It doesn’t matter whether you are 40 or 45 or even a 32-year-old. Age is not really a factor in selections."
“It’s very difficult to compare and compile all the players and teams of all era. Personally, I will never select my best team ever because I feel we should respect everyone who has played for India."
"It might happen (they playing together, but) it would affect our fielding in a big way, it's not only these three, there are quite a few other players who are also slow on the field. If you really add it up, you would have only two or three good fielders."
"These fielders are not bad but on these big fields, they are slightly on the slower side. They would be exploited once the ball goes to them, the Australians and Sri Lankans would look for those two or three runs to put pressure on their body. Their throwing and diving needs to be good," Dhoni said, addressing the questions raised on the rotation between Sachin, Sehwag, and Ganguly.
Now, the above statements of Dhoni are somehow correct. Senior players, who are slow on the field or who are not performing well, shouldn't block the way for promising young talents to find a spot in the team. Similarly, age is not what should matter in the team selection process, it's all about the form and fitness of the players.
How sensible is it to drop Dinesh Karthik from the team squad to bring in Rishabh Pant in the ODI squad? It's highly reasonable to include a promising prodigy in the team, but at whose cost? Has Dhoni really performed better than Dinesh Karthik as a batsman, in recent times? Then, why has Dinesh Karthik been dropped despite getting good starts in almost all the matches he played in the Asia Cup?
It's now time for the team management and former senior players to enlighten Dhoni with his past statements. I've started to have a feeling that Dhoni is now a 'liability' to the team; his experience can't alone keep him in the team if he is continuing his poor form with the bat.
Virat and the team management is having Dhoni in the side just because of his contributions to Indian cricket throughout his career, not because he has really done something to seal his spot in the team. Dhoni is not the same finisher as before, so his batting position should be shifted up the order, right? So, what special did he do in the Asia Cup where he batted at No.4?
Being a senior and experienced figure of the Indian squad, why is he failing to realize that he is no more an asset to his team? Or is he being ignorant and waiting for Virat and the team management to drop him from the team?
Isn't it double standards from Dhoni? The only thing that can be confirmed as of now is that Dhoni's going nowhere till the 2019 CWC.