MS Dhoni looking forward to spending time with daughter Ziva after Zimbabwe tour
MS Dhoni, who led India to a comfortable ODI series whitewash against cricketing minnows Zimbabwe, said that he was looking forward to spending time with his family, especially his thirteen-month-old daughter Ziva, once the tour to the African nation reaches its conclusion, CricketNext reports.
Having retired from the longest format of the game during the 2014-15 Test series against Australia Down Under, Dhoni is a more relaxed man nowadays concentrating on ODI and T20 cricket, taking the extra time off to be with his loved ones. With the Indian team heading to the Carribean for a four-match Test series against the West Indies next, Dhoni will have plenty of time on his hand before donning Indian colours next, which will come in the limited-overs series against New Zealand in October.
While clamours of Test skipper Virat Kohli to take over the captaincy in all formats of the game for Team India have gained momentum, Dhoni replied in his jovial style when asked about the long break.
"I think after a long time, I will take some time off cricket after this series (T20Is). Don't think my daughter (15-month old Ziva) still recognises me. I will make my daughter feel that I am her dad and spent time with family," said Dhoni in a cheeky tone.
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The amount of T20 cricket that has been played since the turn of the year has indeed meant little time for players like Dhoni to rest. The T20 series against Australia and Sri Lanka was followed by the Asia Cup and World T20 before the IPL took centre stage.
Contrary to the success he enjoyed in previous IPL campaigns with the now-suspended Chennai Super Kings franchise, Dhoni had a season to forget as he struggled big-time with the Rising Pune Supergiants franchise which failed to hit the ground running and thus get knocked out at the group stages itself. So no wonder that Dhoni was a visibly revealed man after his Indian side filled with youngsters performed remarkably well, albeit against a weak opposition.
"I think the execution has been really good, and that's the key factor. The fast bowlers and the spinners have taken wickets at some point of time and put pressure on the opposition, so I am happy with the bowling performance," Dhoni said after the 3rd ODI on Wednesday, which the tourists won by ten wickets. "I don't mind winning games easily, that's what you are supposed to do. It would have been nice if a few of the other batsmen would have had a break."