India could make a huge mistake if they remove limited overs skipper MS Dhoni from captaincy, feels former coach Gary Kirsten. The 35-year old’s future as a captain has been making rounds for a while now as many are backing young Virat Kohli to take the captaincy across all three formats after his brilliant work in the longest format of the game.
“You are not going to get an answer out of me. You replace M S Dhoni at your peril, because the one experience I have had is that all great leaders have great performances till the end of their careers,” said Kirsten at a promotional event.
“So, if you (are) willing to let M S Dhoni go when there might potentially be a great World Cup performance left in him if he goes to the (2019) World Cup, which I am not sure if he is (taking part in) or not, you take the risk of doing that,” the former South Africa cricketer said emphatically.
The 48-year old slammed critics for constantly criticizing MS Dhoni as backed the Ranchi hero for providing memorable victories for the team over the past few years.
“I think that is the question I get asked the most everytime I come to India. My answer hasn’t changed in three years. That he (Dhoni) is definitely the best leader I have ever worked with. And his record for Indian cricket over the last nine-ten years speaks for itself,” said the South African when asked about the debate surrounding Dhoni’s future.
“There is no debating in my opinion that he is up there with India’s greatest captains and certainly has produced the trophies for India in his time,” he added.
The South African has also hailed MS Dhoni for his impressive batting as he feels his batting records speaks for him as he recently became the first ever player to reach 9000 ODI runs with an average of over 50.
“You just have to look at his ODI batting record as well, As a finisher, it’s unsurpassed in the world in terms of the position he bats in. So, if anyone is doubting his ability, I think they would be making a great mistake.
“He is a great player and all great players would continue to produce fantastic performances through their career. It’s exciting to see him doing well and having success with the Indian team. I enjoyed working with him and it was a great experience for me,” he added.
Asked about the No.4 batting position for MS Dhoni, Kirsten saud: “That discussion is going on for eight years. He does (have) an ODI batting average of over 50. He can bat in lot of different positions.
“When I was with the Indian team, I encouraged rotational batting order, where we batted according to the situation rather than this is your batting position today. M S was brilliant at that, he didn’t mind where he batted.”
“I always liked him to come in when we needed 100 runs to win because there was no one better (than him) in the world (who) could have won a game from that position, speaking from my experience. But he often liked to get up little bit earlier, so that he can have more time at the wicket and help himself to a hundred. MS Dhoni could pretty much bat anywhere in the batting order,” Kirsten explained further.