Team India’s former captain, MS Dhoni’s performance in T20 series against New Zealand has raised many eyebrows. Some claimed that he has performed really slow and others said that Dhoni should give youngsters a chance and should now retire. However, there are people who believe in Dhoni’s cricketing skills and they are none other than MSD’s teammates. We recently reported how Bhuvneshwar Kumar slammed journalists who asked him if Dhoni is responsible for India’s defeat in T20’s second match. The cricketer made it clear that no one from the team has any issue with Dhoni’s performance and whatever he is doing is benefitting the team.
Now Team India’s skipper has come forward to defend the legendary cricketer. Taking a sarcastic jibe on the issue, Kohli told PTI,
“I don’t understand why people are pointing him out. If I fail as a batsman three times, no one is going to point fingers at me because I am not over 35. The guy is fit, he is passing all the tests. He is contributing to the team in every tactical way on the field. With the bat, he did really well against Sri Lanka (away series) and Australia.”
He asked people to understand the time Dhoni is getting to bat and then judge his performance,
“In this series, he didn’t get much time to bat. You have to understand that the position he comes in to bat, even Hardik Pandya could not score in that game so why are we pointing out one man? Hardik as well got out in the last T20 in Rajkot. You are conveniently targeting one man, which is not fair.”
He further added,
“By the time, he comes in, the run rate is already 8.5-9.5. The wicket is also not the same like when the new ball is being bowled. Batsmen who are set at the top find it easier to strike the ball straightaway compared to guys who come lower down the order. The kind of wickets that we played on, wear and tear has been much more in the latter half.”
The 29-year-old went on saying,
“You have to assess everything. As team members and management, we understand the situation when people go in to bat, we don’t get emotional and excited about opinions of people who are looking at things from a different point of view. You understand how the wicket is behaving, in what situation you are in.”
Kohli even after being the captain is not much worried about Dhoni’s performance as the skipper has his belief on MSD.
“He is doing absolutely fine. He is working hard on his game, understands his role but it doesn’t come off every time. He hit a six in Delhi and it got showed five times in the post-match show and suddenly he doesn’t score in one game and we are after his life.”
And for people who think that it’s time that Dhoni should retire, Kohli gave a shutting reply saying,
“People need to be a bit more patient. He is a guy who understands where his cricket is. He is a very smart guy and understands where he stands with his body and game. I don’t think anyone else has the right to decide that for him.”
The way Kohli has defended Dhoni shows that the team has full faith in the cricketer and it’s the people who need to stop judging and asking him to retire.
