MS Dhoni not innovative and proactive enough to lead a Test side: Michael Holding

MS Dhoni

West Indian pace bowling legend Michael Holding has said that Indian captain MS Dhoni “isn’t innovative and proactive enough” to lead a side in Test cricket. However, the cricketer-turned-commentator expects the Men in Blue to do well in the World Cup next year under the 33-year-old, as he believes that captaining a One Day International side is “not too difficult”.

“I don’t think ODI captaincy is a problem (with Dhoni), but the longer form of the game is. I don’t think he is innovative and proactive enough in the longer form of the game. But captaining in ODIs it is not too difficult. Therefore, India can do well under him at the World Cup,” Holding told PTI in an interview.

When asked about Dhoni’s alleged disinterest in playing the longer format of the game, Holding, refusing to single out Dhoni, said that a lot of cricketers prefer playing shorter formats, with money being the driving force.

“Why only him (Dhoni), a lot of cricketers prefer playing limited overs cricket. I don’t think a lot of cricketers like playing Test cricket. It is not peculiar to him (Dhoni) alone. Money is one main reason and if you can work for short period of time and get more money, eventually you want to do that only,” said the Jamaican.

Hard to predict India’s chances in World Cup 2015

Holding doesn’t believe in predicting India’s chances or, for that matter, any team’s chances, as the nature of the format means that there can never be any clear favourites, according to him.

“I can’t predict that. It is very hard to do that in one-day cricket. It matters who plays well on the day. Yes, they (India) have a good enough team to challenge for the title. I think there about four or five teams that stand a realistic chance of winning but as I said it is a matter of how well you play on the day. Having names in your team doesn’t guarantee that you are going to play well,” said Holding.

Replying to the question on whether India has suitable bowlers for the bouncy conditions in Australia and New Zealand: “You don’t have to take a lot of wickets if you get enough runs on the board. I think last time India won the World Cup at home and you saw how they won it. They chased big totals.

“I think Ishant Sharma is a very good bowler. You need your best team for the World Cup and he finds himself in that best team. Bhuvneshwar could be another strong bowler if used sparingly. He is not a very strong guy and therefore needs to be doing less work than what he is doing,” said the 60-year-old.