Virat Kohli and selectors the right people to take call on MS Dhoni’s future: Sourav Ganguly
When it comes to the selection of a team for any cricketing series, it’s the selectors and the captain who make the call. On a more seriouis subject where the decision is to decide whether a player should call time on his career or not, it has to be a more personal call. With the future of MS Dhoni up in the air, many in the cricketing fraternity are clueless as to what the Jharkhand-born wicket-keeper batsman’s role in the Indian team is at present. Sourav Ganguly, who himself is one of the most successful Indian captains, has left the decision on the shoulders of Kohli and the selectors.
Dhoni was expected to hang up his boots after the conclusion of the 2019 ICC World Cup in England & Wales but he stuck around and decided to take a 2-month sabbatical instead. No word has come from Dhoni on the subject of his retirement yet while opinions in the cricketing spectrum are divided.
As far as the opinion of Ganguly is concerned, the captain and members of the selection committee are the ones who need to take the big call.
“I don’t know what the selectors think, what Virat (Kohli) thinks. They are the important person, let them make the decision,”
A few days ago, it was a throwback tweet by Kohli that sparked the rumour of Dhoni announcing his retirement, while netizens added fuel to the fire by suggesting that the 38-year-old had also called for a press conference.
With Dhoni retirement becoming the top trend on social media at that time, the selectors and the cricketer’s wife Sakshi later rubbished the rumours. Kohli also broke silence on the eve of the Dharamsala contest, suggesting retirement has to be a personal call and no one has the right to opine on it.
“Look experience is always going to matter whether you like it or not. I mean there are a numerous number of times people have given up on sportsmen, and they have proved people wrong, and he has done that many times in his career as well. So one great thing about him is that he thinks for India cricket. And whatever we think, he is on the same page. The alignment is there. The kind of mindset he has had is to groom youngsters and give them opportunities, and he is still the same person,” Kohli had said in the press conference.
“When you decide to stop playing is an absolutely individual thing, and no one else should have an opinion on it, that’s what I think,” Kohli added. “As long as he is available and continues to play, he is going to be very very valuable.”
Dhoni isn’t going to be a part of the South Africa series which comprises of 3 T20Is and 3 Tests, although it would be interesting to see if the veteran stumper returns against Bangladesh.
