India should be prepared for life beyond MS Dhoni: Sourav Ganguly

What's the story?

Uncertainty looms over MS Dhoni's future in the Indian team. Dhoni's first international captain, Sourav Ganguly has said that the Indian team has to be prepared for the inevitable, which is playing without Dhoni.

In case you didn't know

Post India's World Cup semi-final exit, a lot of current and former cricketers have expressed their views about MS Dhoni's retirement. Dhoni made himself unavailable for the West Indies series as he took a sabbatical to serve his regiment.

The heart of the matter

Sourav Ganguly.

Talking to India Today, Sourav Ganguly said that this phase comes in every sportsman's career.

Ganguly said "Every big player has to hang up his shoes. That's sport. Look at football, Maradona had to quit. There hasn't been a bigger player than him. Tendulkar, Lara, Bradman.. everyone had to quit. This is the way system has been and will be. So this scenario will come for MS as well."

However, Ganguly reiterated that the decision should be left on Dhoni himself.

"He is at that stage of his career where he has to evaluate where he stands. He has to decide if he can win matches for India. If he can continue to contribute like MS Dhoni, not someone else.

"Because with players like MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, until they play, there will be expectations that they will play like in this way and win matches in this fashion. I think Dhoni has to make this decision. Only a player knows how much fuel is left in the tank and how much of his match-winning ability is intact," he told India Today.

Despite not knowing the time when Dhoni might hang his boots, Ganguly feels that India should be prepared for the inevitable. He said

"Indian cricket will have to get used to the fact that MS Dhoni won't be playing forever and he won't be around for too long. But I believe this decision has to be taken by Dhoni himself,".

What's next?

India are slotted to play a three-match T20 series against South Africa at home next month. It will be interesting to see whether Dhoni makes himself available for selection and if he does, whether he is selected for the series.

Ganguly referenced Sachin Tendulkar's retirement in the interview.

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