Dhoni knows when to hand over the ODI captaincy to kohli, says former national selector

Oct 14, 2016 at 9:39 AM

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Dhoni knows when to hand over the ODI captaincy to kohli, says former national selector

The debate over whether Virat Kohli should replace Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the limited overs skipper has divided the Indian cricket fraternity into two sides. While some feel that appointing Kohli is the only way forward, others believe that Dhoni still has the potential to lead the team. And now former national selector Pranab Roy has backed Dhoni to lead the team in the limited-overs format.

In an interaction with the Times of India, Roy, who backed Dhoni for the 2004 Bangladesh ODI series, said that there is no suitable replacement at the time being for India’s most decorated skipper.

“At the moment, there is no replacement for Dhoni in limited overs. He is too good a player and a leader. There is no need to think of changing captaincy. Dhoni knows when to hand the baton to Kohli,” Roy said.

Roy, who represented India in two Tests, also expressed his surprise over Dhoni’s sudden decision to retire from Tests during the 2014-2015 series in Australia.

“I was surprised at that moment. After playing 90 Tests, I thought he would continue though we lost a few Tests in England and Australia. But again you have to respect his decision. Probably, the decision to back him during the selection (in 2004) is the best I have made as a selector,” Roy said.

Roy also cleared the air surrounding Dhoni’s inclusion in the Indian team ahead of Dinesh Karthik in 2004. A scene in Dhoni’s biographical film showed that the selectors were involved in a heated discussion to select the wicketkeeper. The movie further showed that Dhoni was selected on the insistence of the then Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly.

Talking about the meeting, Roy said: “Actually, there were two other names too that were discussed. Deep Das Gupta and Parthiv Patel. But the selectors stuck with Dhoni. Rahul Dravid had already carried on the role of a wicket-keeper batsman for a long time, thus we went with Dhoni.”

“Definitely, Karthik and Parthiv are terrific cricketers and that is why they are still playing and doing well. But Dhoni’s case is different. He was much above the rest of the wicket-keepers in India at that time. Every match he was doing well. That’s why he was given a chance and he proved that he was better.”

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