Dambulla: Former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the centre of attention as India’s ODI specialists enjoyed their first training session, here Thursday.
It was an optional session where Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal and Jasprit Bumrah – men who were not in the Test squad – looked like hitting the right notes ahead of what will be the start of a long limited-overs engagement for the Men in Blue.
The spotlight though was on the 36-year-old Dhoni, who now has to fend off questions about his future with alarming regularity. He warmed up by facing different bowlers in the nets, both Indian and local Sri Lankan bowlers.
Initially, he looked a bit rusty, given that he has not played competitive cricket for almost a month now. But he shrugged it off easily and played some handsome shots against both the pacers and spinners, warming up for the challenges ahead.
In the not too distant past, Dhoni has had some decent knocks with the bat. However, there is no denying that the former skipper has looked a pale shadow of his past glorious self on many occasions, the last of which was in West Indies recently, when he scored a painful 54 off 114 balls in the fourth ODI at Antigua, as India lost the game by 11 runs.
Yet he still remains an integral part of the Indian dressing room because of the high standards he sets by personal example. Then there is the element of experience that he brings to the table also.
But all said and done, the current ODI series will go a long way in determining his future in the game and provide answers to questions being asked about him.
Last 10 innings
R BF Opposition
41 59 New Zealand
6 6 England
134 122 England
25 36 England
63 52 Sri Lanka
4 16 Pakistan
9 9 West Indies
13 13 West Indies
78 79 West Indies
54 114 West Indies
