MS Dhoni can now express himself freely as a player, says Sunil Gavaskar

What’s the story

Indian cricketing great Sunil Gavaskar believes that quitting the Indian captaincy will allow Mahendra Singh Dhoni to be more focussed on his skills as a player. In a column with the Times Group, Sunil Gavaskar said, “Dhoni can now focus entirely on his keeping without worrying too much about field placing or bowling changes and would be better off without that additional responsibility.”

The legendary opener admitted that being a wicketkeeper and captain is never easy as one aspect of the game affects the other. A slight mistake in any of the two can cost the team a game and MS Dhoni has done the dual role remarkably well for years.

He also was of the opinion that the India’s outgoing skipper did not surprise him. With the ICC World Cup over 2 years away and a young captain ready to take over the reigns, the decision was bound to come sooner or later, though it came sooner than anybody would have anticipated.

In case you didn't know...

Sunil Gavaskar has earlier expressed relief over Dhoni’s decision to continue as a player. The Mumbaikar said that he would be the first protestor outside MS Dhoni’s house had the 35-year-old decided to retire from the limited overs format.

The heart of the matter

In his response to the TOI about how the new Kohli-Dhoni combine would work for Team India, Gavaskar said that the Jharkhand native could now focus on just fulfilling the roles assigned to him by newly appointed skipper Virat Kohli and that this would help Dhoni improve as a player.

The Mumbai opener also felt that without this additional responsibility, MS Dhoni would be able to express himself more freely as a batsman irrespective of whether he comes up the batting order or goes slightly lower down. Gavaskar also said that Dhoni would add to his tally of nine centuries, most of which were scored early in his career.

What next?

MS Dhoni will lead India A in the first warm-up match against England on January 10 at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. The idea of Dhoni captaining a side has generated excitement among the fans for the warm-up game. India will face England in a series of 3 ODIs and 3 T20s starting January 15.

Sportskeeda’s take

While former cricketers, cricket pundits, and cricket fans are busy expressing their opinions about MS Dhoni’s decision to relinquish Indian captaincy, we need to remember that Dhoni has been a legend for Indian cricket and he deserves the respect for the decision he has made.

Virat Kohli has shown the experience to be the captain and carry the Indian team forward. MS Dhoni still has a lot to contribute to Indian cricket, both with his skills as a player and his insights into the role of captaincy.