A couple of days after former captain Sourav Ganguly said that he would be surprised if current limited overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni leads the Indian team in 2019 World Cup and backed Virat Kohli to be given the leadership role soon,another former captain Mohammad Azharuddin has said that MS Dhoni’s achievement in cricket is unparalleled and he should be allowed to take a call on his future.
“It’s Ganguly’s personal decision (opinion) and I respect it. At the same time, it all depends on Dhoni, on what he thinks about his future. I respect Ganguly’s opinion, but I feel Dhoni should be given the chance to decide when to retire,” said Azhar on the sidelines of a function to announce the joining of racer Nayan Chatterjee with Meco Motor Sports.
“He (Dhoni) deserves that chance. He has been one of the finest captains ever. He has won all major tournaments, got India to the no.1 position in all formats of the game. I think we should not forget his performances,” said Azhar in support of the current ODI and T20 captain, who has retired from Test cricket.
“It’s very hard for me to say. It totally depends on Dhoni, how he feels mentally or how demanding the sport is going to become. We have to give that chance to Dhoni to take the decision on his retirement,” the former wristy batsman said.
Dhoni’s form has taken a dip in the recent time and when asked about it, Azharuddin backed Dhoni and said every player went through such a phase.
“Sometimes people go up and down and his form is not good at times. But he has led the side well and has been a pillar of strength to the players who have played under him. We should give him that chance (to take a call on his future),” Azhar emphasised.
Talking about Virat Kohli, he said that Kohli would be the unanimous choice to lead India in all the formats after Dhoni’s retirement.
“There’s no double in the country that Virat is going to be the next captain in T20 and ODIs. He’s already the captain in Tests.”
He also took a dig at spinner R Ashwin, who is currently going through a lean phase.
“Sometimes Ashwin has to produce results also. With due respect to him, he’s a great bowler, he should get results at the same time,” he pointed out.
He also ruled out any Indian from getting a chance to be the new coach of the senior team.
“Nowadays everyone looks to have foreign coaches. I don’t think anyone will come from India. I don’t think any Indian will be the coach,” he said.