MS Dhoni still has the ability to change games, says Matthew Hayden
What’s the story?
Matthew Hayden has recently landed in India for the promotion of the TNPL. Talking to Times of India at the event, the left-handed batsman discussed MS Dhoni’s future as an international cricketer and how he believes that his former Chennai Super Kings teammate still has a lot of cricket left in him.
“If MS feels that moment has come, I think he will go. I still see him as a player who can change games and he is not the one who will hang around when he believes it's done,” said the 45-year-old.
Adam Gilchrist made an instantaneous decision to retire from international cricket after he dropped a catch in the final Test of the Border Gavaskar series against India in 2008. Talking about the same, Hayden reminisced, “The life of a cricketer is like a glass full of water and coins are being dropped into it. Then comes a moment when the water spills at the drop of one more coin - Gilchrist's was like that.”
In case you didn’t know...
Dhoni’s innings of 54 of 114 balls while chasing 190 in the 4th ODI against West Indies earlier this month invited great criticism from all quarters of world cricket. The fact that India failed to chase the meagre total made matters even worse for the former Indian skipper.
However, Kohli came out in defence of the wicket-keeper and revealed that any batsman can get stuck on the crease one time or the other.
The details
The former Australian opening batsman also spoke about the pay revenue dispute that has been scathing at Australian cricket for a long time now. He expressed concern over the cancellation of Australia A’ s tour to South Africa and said that it was regrettable considering the rare opportunities that cricketers manage to get between the domestic and international levels.
He believes that the players, along with the fans, are the biggest stakeholders of cricket. He added that the Australian board needs to find a solution to this long-drawn problem at the earliest and get realistic about protecting their assets as well as attracting more players to the sport.
What next?
India will now tour Sri Lanka to play 3 Tests, 5 ODIs and 1 T20I against the hosts. India’s newly-appointed head coach, Ravi Shastri, will also join the team for the tour. These set of matches will be crucial for Dhoni as a cricketer. It will help Shastri and captain Virat Kohli figure out how to use Dhoni in the playing XI and how to make the maximum use of the veteran’s experience.
Also read: Full schedule of India’s tour to Sri Lanka
Author’s take
Dhoni is still the best wicketkeeper that India has by a long margin and his tactical brain has been of great help to Kohli on the field. The 37-year-old can still look to contribute to Indian cricket for a couple of years if he finds a way to make the most of his enviable experience so as to add to this last lap of his international career.