Former Australia’s World Cup-winning skipper Steve Waugh, who is concurrently serving as a brand ambassador of ICC’s community cricket tournament ‘Criiio’, has backed seasoned Team India campaigner MS Dhoni. He has done his best the ICC World Cup 2019.
The legendary Australian cricketer Waugh believes Dhoni has a lot left in his tank. Waugh had conceded that Dhoni is still what a ‘great cricketer’.
Dhoni is a ‘great player’:
While talking about Dhoni performances, Waugh reiterated things tend to become ‘challenging’ when one reaches to age like 38. Dhoni had accumulated 273 runs in nine matches.
“It becomes increasingly challenging when people get to a certain age. Mahendra Singh Dhoni you are referring to is still a great player,” Waugh told PTI.
Dhoni, who slammed 50 off 72 deliveries against New Zealand in the low-scoring semi-final, has been criticised particularly against a game against England in Birmingham on June 30. However, Waugh also thinks on different lines by terming it ‘unfair’.
In the past Dhoni, had won some enticing games by playing an outstanding brand of cricket, holds a stunning record under his belt.
Waugh categorically stated that Dhoni is capable of winning the team a game, and in his absence, they won’t have a chance to seal a game. Such has been Dhoni’s impact as a batsman.
“I think it is pretty unfair. MS Dhoni has won so many games to India and he has played in the same way over the long period of time. He can get you in a situation that can give you a chance to win the game and without him, there would not be a chance to win a game,” Waugh told ANI.
Game of Inches:
While speaking about Dhoni’s run out in the semis, Waugh admitted the fact that teams can’t win on every occasion. Following brilliance on the field from Martin Guptill, Dhoni was inches short from the crease.
Meanwhile, Waugh maintained things tend to get difficult in the run chase, but overall Dhoni has done that far better in the cricketing history by absorbing the pressure to come out as a winner.
“Of course, you are not going to win every time. The other day, he was a couple of inches away from being home for the second run. He may have still won that game. I know how hard it is to win a one-day game while chasing. He has done better than anyone in the history of the game,” Waugh concluded.
Since 2004, Dhoni had played 350 ODIs to amass 10,773 runs at an average of 50.6. He has ten hundreds and 73 half-centuries to his name.