New Delhi: Fitter and faster than players 10 years his junior, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is irreplaceable in the Indian ODI team right now, according to national coach Ravi Shastri, who also said critics should analyse their own careers at 36 before finding faults in the former captain.
“We are not stupid. I have been watching this sport for the last 30-40 years. Virat has been a part of this team for a decade now. We know, at this age, he (Dhoni) can beat players aged 26. People who talk, forget that they played the game,” Shastri was quoted as saying in a magazine.
“If they look at themselves in the mirror and ask the question, ‘what they were at the age of 36?’. Would they have run two runs faster? But the time they finish two, this guy (Dhoni) will run three. Then he has won ‘only two World Cups and averages only 51’. Till today you don’t have a wicket-keeper to replace Dhoni in the one-day team,” he asserted.
Shastri said Dhoni’s skill set is not easy to find and it would be long before a replacement comes along. “He is still one of the best around, not only in the Indian team, but in the world. Some of the things you see with him are not sold in the market. You will not get it anywhere else,” Shastri pointed out.
“The fact that he (Dhoni) does not play Test cricket, means he should be playing as much cricket as possible till the World Cup in 2019,” he added.
Shastri also spoke about the upcoming tour of South Africa, which starts January 5, with a three-match Test series January 5. He asserted that the Indians will respect the opposition like they do in every game, but the aim would be to win.
“For us all opposition is the same, all oppositions have to be respected. We haven’t won a series in South Africa and hence this is a massive opportunity for the team to do something special. The belief is there,” Shastri pointed out.
Press Trust of India
