Gautam Gambhir wants to look at the future just like MS Dhoni when he was captain.
Gautam Gambhir has said that it was time to groom players for the future and India should look at someone else at wicketkeeper in place of MS Dhoni. There have been talks about MS Dhoni’s position in the Indian team after their exit from the World Cup in England. Gambhir said that it was vital to prepare a new wicketkeeper for the next World Cup.
He said that even Dhoni applied the same tactics when the latter said that Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and himself can’t play together in Australia.
"Be it Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan or any other wicketkeeper, whoever is believed to have the potential should be made the wicketkeeper," he said.
Meanwhile, Gambhir's former opening partner Virender Sehwag had said that chief selector MSK Prasad should reach out to Dhoni to reflect on his future if the selectors do not see him as the first-choice keeper-batsman anymore.
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1. MS Dhoni always invested in future: Gautam Gambhir
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Gautam Gambhir said that when Dhoni was the skipper he invested in the future and it's time to do the same. He said that even Dhoni was thinking of future when he said that Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag can’t play together in Australia.
“It’s important to look into the future. And when Dhoni was the skipper, he invested in the future. I remember Dhoni saying in Australia that me, Sachin and Sehwag can’t play the CB series together as the grounds were big. He wished for young players for the World Cup. It’s necessary to take practical decisions than being emotional,” Gambhir was quoted as saying in TV9 Bharatvarsh.
“And it’s time to groom the youngsters. Be it Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan or any other wicketkeeper, whoever is believed to have the potential should be made the wicket-keeper. Give him chances for one and half-years and if he doesn’t perform, then others should be tried out as well. Then one would get to know who the keeper for the next World Cup is,” the cricketer-turned-politician added.
2. Dhoni not the 'only' successful Indian skipper, says Gambhir
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Gautam Gambhir also said that while MS Dhoni was one of the best captains for India, there have been other Indian captains who have done really well. He also added that it is not right to give all credits for success to the captain and blame him when otherwise.
"If you see the statistics, then he (Dhoni) is the best captain. But that doesn’t mean that other captains have done badly. Sourav Ganguly has done good captaincy; we have won outside under him. Under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, we have won ODI series in South Africa and Test series in Australia."
"It is true that MS Dhoni has won us two World Cups (2007 and 2011) but it is not fair to give all credit to the captain for success and criticise only him when it doesn’t go your way. Dhoni has won the Champions Trophy and World Cups but other captains have also taken India forward. Captains like Anil Kumble have done the job though not for long; Rahul Dravid also led India to win in England," added the 37-year-old cricketer-turned-politician.
3. MSK Prasad should talk to MS Dhoni: Virender Sehwag
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Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag has said that chief selector MSK Prasad should reach out to MS Dhoni and talk about his future.
“It should be left to MS Dhoni to decide when to hang his boots. The duty of the selectors is to reach out to Dhoni and inform him that he is no more being seen as India’s wicket-keeper batsman going forward. I wish the selectors had asked me as well about my plans so I would also have been able to inform them,” Sehwag said in a panel discussion according to timesnownews.com.
