MS Dhoni needs to take few risks; Kohli ideal successor, says Rahul Dravid

Rahul Dravid believes Dhoni has to more aggressive in critical situations to win overseas matches.

Former Indian captain Rahul Dravid spoke to ESPNcricinfo after India drew New Zealand in Wellington, and expressed his thoughts on captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

“I think he (MS Dhoni) doesn’t trust his bowling attack as much as I think he should. I saw that even in the Test match in Durban, where he didn’t take the new ball till 146 overs. In fact he was forced to take the new ball. He didn’t trust his fast bowlers to be able to take wickets. He kept playing with the older ball because he wanted to control the runs. So I think that is a slightly defensive mindset that he’s got into,” said a sceptical Dravid who believes Dhoni has to be more aggressive in nature in order to win matches on foreign pitches.

“I think he’s got to realise this very quickly, that if he wants to win Test matches abroad, he’s got to risk it all. He’s got to take that chance that he’s going to have to lose some Test matches. The only way you can win abroad is to take a few risks, take a few gambles. I’ve always seen this year of Indian cricket as these four big overseas tours, which is South Africa, New Zealand, England and Australia, with the World Cup next year in Australia,” he added. “Let’s presume that Dhoni is going to be India’s one-day captain and take India into that World Cup. I think he’s earned the right to do that.”

Dhoni’s inability to get the most out of his players in overseas matches has been touted as a big failure in his regard, but Dravid thinks Dhoni should still be given another year to improve.

“In Test matches, I always saw these four Test as Dhoni’s opportunity to redeem what has been a pretty poor overseas record for him as captain. He’s achieved everything else. He’s won one-day tournaments, he’s won a World Cup, Champions Trophy, he’s taken India to No. 1, he has a great record in India, (Dhoni) just hasn’t had the results outside of India. And I think he deserves the right, the chance to play out this year, and assess it at the end of the Australian series. End of that series, we’ll really know where Indian cricket stands and where Dhoni stands, both as a player and as a captain.”

“But so far, look, there have been a few disappointments in the way he’s not been able to win, I guess, two Test matches in the last four, been in really really strong positions, but look, you can’t always blame him. It also comes down to the quality of bowling attack that he has, and yes, so I’d like him to have an opportunity to be able to correct that poor overseas record,” Dravid added.

Dravid also felt that Virat Kohli is the perfect candidate to take over the captaincy from Dhoni when he decides to call it a day, and should be given his chances to captain the side after the England and Australia tours.

“I think that World Cup is going to be the watershed moment, and two big series in England and Australia, and after that I believe it will be time for (Dhoni), both personally and for Indian cricket, to assess whether it’s time for a new man to take over. Luckily, in some ways, we’ve got Virat Kohli, who’s playing beautifully, so it’s not that you don’t have somebody waiting in the wings.”

“You’ve got a young player who has, by all accounts, led before. He’s led India Under-19 before, he’s led Delhi before, he’s led North Zone, he’s got leadership experience. It’s just that he needs to, like Marty Crowe said, establish himself little more as a player and by the time, come World Cup, with two more tough series of England and Australia behind his back, and hopefully with runs behind his back, I thInk he’ll be ready to take over,” concluded Dravid.