Never underestimate importance of MS Dhoni: Clarke

Former Australian captain Michael Clarke on Thursday warned critics to "never underestimate" the importance of veteran Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the Indian limited overs teams. Clarke tweeted after the Australian team beat fancied India in the fifth and final ODI at the Feroz Shah Kotla for a stunning come-from-behind 3-2 series win here Wednesday.

"Never underestimate the importance of MSD - experience in the middle order is so important," Clarke, a World Cup-winning captain, wrote on his twitter handle about the seasoned player who has also led his country to two World Cup triumphs.

India surrendered a 2-0 lead in the just-concluded five-match series even as the Australians made a remarkable comeback by winning three consecutive matches. Incidentally, Dhoni did not feature in the last two games with young wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant struggling to fill in the former India captain's shoes.

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Under Dhoni's captaincy, India won the inaugural World T20 in 2007 and the ICC World Cup in 2011, ending a 28-year drought. Not just as a reliable batsman and wicketkeeper, Dhoni's guidance in the field was also missed in the last two matches that India lost against Australia.

When it came to captaincy style, Dhoni took risks and then fell back to allow things to happen. During his tenure, there was no chopping and changing. There was a settlement. Under Kohli and Ravi Shastri, the horses for courses approach is yielding one potential negative side effect. Batsmen vying for the middle order are suffering a loss in confidence while the bowlers are getting undone by the ‘misreading’ of the conditions. With Dhoni, the conditions did not matter much as his captaincy style and the resources he had in his disposal meant he had to take the wait and watch approach. 

Dhoni is the one who maneuvers the field. He is the one who tells the bowlers what to bowl and where. He is the one who eases the burden for Kohli to become a wonderful batsman. Make no mistake about it. Kohli needs Dhoni more than ever. The Indian team and his captaincy will never be the same once Dhoni exits the scene. Shastri hit the nail on the head when he said, “Nobody is good enough to criticize MS Dhoni. If you talk about him, do you even know anything about cricket? Dhoni is like Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, and Sunil Gavaskar. These guys come once in 30-40 years.” For World Cup success, the Australia series loss has proven to be an eye-opener for Kohli. The picture in front of him is that he and India need Dhoni more than ever.

(With Inputs: PTI)

HIGHLIGHTS

• India missed the services of MS Dhoni in the last two encounters against Australia.
• Former Australian captain went all praises for MS Dhoni. 
• Australia will be up against Pakistan in their last assignment before the World Cup.