What’s the story?
‘Little Master’ Sunil Gavaskar has expressed relief over MS Dhoni deciding to continue playing in the limited-overs format. ”If he had quit as a player, then I would have been the first one outside his house asking him to make a comeback,” Gavaskar said in an interview with NDTV.
The legendary Indian batsman continues to believe in MS Dhoni’s match-winning abilities. “As a player, he is still a destroyer. He can change fortunes of the game in a single over,” he added. Now that Dhoni has relieved himself of the captaincy, he can express himself much more freely on the field as a player.
In case you didn’t know...
Dhoni captained India in 199 ODIs and 72 T20Is since taking over the reigns in 2007. He is the only player in the world to have captained his side to all the three major ICC titles. The 35-year-old left huge boots to be filled when he decided to call time on his captaincy stint.
Also read: MS Dhoni - A leader to take to the trenches with you
Dhoni’s announcement, however, does not come as a total shock. The Jharkhand cricketer had, earlier, taken the cricketing world by surprise when he retired from Test cricket midway through the series against Australia.
The heart of the matter
Is Dhoni right in handing over the reigns or should he have continued on as captain? Everyone’s looking for answers to this million dollar question. Gavaskar, meanwhile, believes that the decision was bound to come eventually. The Indian legend, however, admitted that it has come sooner than everybody anticipated.
The former Indian opener has thrown his full weight behind the idea of Virat Kohli being named captain, as he felt that the 28-year-old is finally mature enough to fulfill his role as Indian skipper.
What next?
The upcoming ODI and T20 series against England will start on January 15. An interesting team dynamic will be on display with Dhoni stepping out on the field as a player and Kohli donning the captain’s hat. It will be interesting to see how these two stars combine to take Indian cricket forward.
Sportskeeda’s take
MS Dhoni, the legend that he is, has been a selfless man for years. He does what is best for the Indian team. The 25-year-old’s decision to give up the captaincy must have been a well thought out one.
Indian cricket, meanwhile, looks in good hands. Virat Kohli has the maturity and experience to take over the captaincy from Dhoni and he will have Captain Cool’s valuable cricketing mind at his service to learn from when he walks out to captain India in the limited overs formats.
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