Yuzvendra Chahal, who is India’s limited-overs specialist spinner said that former skipper MS Dhoni’s announcement to retire shocked him. He thought that the later could have played the T20 World Cup which was originally scheduled in Australia in 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic prompted ICC to postpone the tournament to 2021.
MS Dhoni, who is the only captain to win all ICC trophies retired from the international scene, made is appearance one year before for India when the team lost in the semi-final against New Zealand in 2019 World Cup.
Speculations regarding his participation in 2020 T20 World Cup was on the rife, but fans were shocked after his retirement following the deferment of the event to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yuzvendra Chahal Credits MS Dhoni For Backing Him And Kuldeep Yadav
He said that MS Dhoni could have played T20I World Cup had it not been postponed besides adding that he still wants him to play in international cricket.
“Dhoni’s retirement was very shocking news. I think Corona also played a role in this decision, otherwise Dhoni would have played T20 World Cup,” Chahal said in News18 India’s special program Chaupal.
“I still want him to play,” said the 30-year-old from Haryana, who has represented India in 52 ODIs and 42 T20Is.
Yuzvendra Chahal also felt that MS Dhoni had still some years of cricket left in him — and he still wants MS Dhoni to play international cricket besides crediting MS Dhoni for his as well as the other reliable spinner of India, Kuldeep Yadav’s success. MS Dhoni also helped both the spinners during the tour of South Africa.
“Because of him Kuldeep Yadav and I succeeded. We used to get a lot of help from him from behind the wicket. If Dhoni was there, 50 per cent of my work was already done.”
MS Dhoni retired from international cricket bringing down curtains to his 16-year career where he led India to two World Cups-T20I in 2007, 50-over ODI in 2011, also two Asia Cups in 2010 and 2016 besides 2013 Champions Trophy. He has also scored 10,773 runs in ODI cricket at an exemplary average of 50.53.
Besides 350 ODI and 98 T20Is, he featured in 90 Tests out of which he led in 60 and won 27 becoming India’s most successful Test captain.
Yuzvendra Chahal Says MS Dhoni Can Understand Pitch Before The First Ball
MS Dhoni’s presence boosted team India’s chances of winning as he can decipher the pitch before the first ball. In his absence, the team requires two overs to understand the nature of the pitch.
“Dhoni knew how the pitch was behaving. Before the first ball, we knew what the pitch was like because of him. Otherwise, when Dhoni was not there, we would take two overs to understand the pitch,” he said.
“In the match, since Virat (Kohli) and Rohit (Sharma) were on the boundary, then Dhoni was the nearest senior, he would help us always. Dhoni also helped Kuldeep and I a lot during the tour of South Africa.”
BCCI, however, has the final decision of arranging a farewell match for MS Dhoni.
Asked if Dhoni should get a farewell match, Chahal said: “This decision will be taken by the BCCI. Also, what Dhoni wants needs to be considered.”
Pertinently, Yuzvendra Chahal was picked in the Indian team after performing well for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. The former chess player played in 52 ODIs where he picked 91 wickets and 42 T20Is where he had 55 scalps to his name. His bowling average has been less than 26 in limited-overs white-ball cricket but he is yet to play in tests.
Kuldeep Yadav, however, has played in 6 tests picking up 36 wickets at 24.12 but his performance in white-ball cricket is extraordinary as he picked 102 wickets in 59 ODIs at 25.85 and he has 39 scalps in 21 T20Is at 13.76. Yadav is the first bowler for India to take two hat-tricks in international cricket.