Agency :
Team India Director and coach, Ravi Shastri, is pretty gung-ho about the Asia Cup and ICC World Twenty20 but can’t fathom the criticism that has of late been meted out to captain MS Dhoni.
Dhoni overcame his captaincy woes with back-to-back T20I series wins in Australia and at home against Sri Lanka, but his spell with the bat remained dry, barring a couple of famous sixes that reminded of the MSD of old.
But it has never perturbed Dhoni, as Captain Cool has always gone about his task without giving any heed to who says what. However, it has surely irked his coach.
Shastri says No. 6 is one of the toughest positions to bat and India should feel lucky they have had someone doing that job for so many years, and like a champion.
“Don’t mess around with legends and champions. I want to see how many batsmen have batted at No. 6 for the years he has batted and contributed that consistently with that strike rate and won matches,” Shastri told in an interview to the Hindustan Times.
The former India captain believed no one has any right to question or ask about Dhoni’s retirement decision, whenever it comes.
“Never fool around with champions. When someone has done it so well for so long, they have a right to decide [about retiring]. You saw how he left Test cricket, when no one expected. So what makes you think he will hang on for the sake of it! If he believes he is good, he will stay; if he believes his time is up, he will go, that much I can assure you of MS Dhoni,” Shastri told the newspaper.
The former all-rounder expressed satisfaction with India’s preparations for the Asia Cup in Bangladesh and the World T20 at home, and said that the team needed to play some T20I cricket before the two big tournaments.
“You can’t be in a better frame of mind than we are going into the Asia Cup and World Cup,” he said. “The idea is to keep the winning habit, and at the same time see if there are opportunities to try out players as well…but that will only be decided once we know how we are performing in the tournament.”
Shastri said he is impressed how the team’s batting is shaping up.
“The best thing I like about our batting is they play freely now, and express themselves,” he said before adding that each players is clear about his role in the team. “Their mind is very clear; they know what their roles are as batsmen and bowlers. That makes a big difference. They know it’s not about individuals, it’s about team performance.”
Team India Director and coach, Ravi Shastri, is pretty gung-ho about the Asia Cup and ICC World Twenty20 but can’t fathom the criticism that has of late been meted out to captain MS Dhoni.
Dhoni overcame his captaincy woes with back-to-back T20I series wins in Australia and at home against Sri Lanka, but his spell with the bat remained dry, barring a couple of famous sixes that reminded of the MSD of old.
But it has never perturbed Dhoni, as Captain Cool has always gone about his task without giving any heed to who says what. However, it has surely irked his coach.
Shastri says No. 6 is one of the toughest positions to bat and India should feel lucky they have had someone doing that job for so many years, and like a champion.
“Don’t mess around with legends and champions. I want to see how many batsmen have batted at No. 6 for the years he has batted and contributed that consistently with that strike rate and won matches,” Shastri told in an interview to the Hindustan Times.
The former India captain believed no one has any right to question or ask about Dhoni’s retirement decision, whenever it comes.
“Never fool around with champions. When someone has done it so well for so long, they have a right to decide [about retiring]. You saw how he left Test cricket, when no one expected. So what makes you think he will hang on for the sake of it! If he believes he is good, he will stay; if he believes his time is up, he will go, that much I can assure you of MS Dhoni,” Shastri told the newspaper.
The former all-rounder expressed satisfaction with India’s preparations for the Asia Cup in Bangladesh and the World T20 at home, and said that the team needed to play some T20I cricket before the two big tournaments.
“You can’t be in a better frame of mind than we are going into the Asia Cup and World Cup,” he said. “The idea is to keep the winning habit, and at the same time see if there are opportunities to try out players as well…but that will only be decided once we know how we are performing in the tournament.”
Shastri said he is impressed how the team’s batting is shaping up.
“The best thing I like about our batting is they play freely now, and express themselves,” he said before adding that each players is clear about his role in the team. “Their mind is very clear; they know what their roles are as batsmen and bowlers. That makes a big difference. They know it’s not about individuals, it’s about team performance.”
