SA vs IND 2018: R Sridhar Opens Up On MS Dhoni's Wicketkeeping

Throughout his career, Mahendra Singh Dhoni never followed the cricketing manual. It, however, did not stop him from becoming one of the most decorated wicketkeepers in the game. He recently became the first Indian and just the fourth overall keeper to effect 400 dismissals in One-Day Internationals. He is also the first and so far only keeper to effect 100 stumping in 50-over cricket.

But despite Dhoni being on the scene for so long, almost everyone has struggled to define his unorthodox technique behind the wickets. At such a time, R Sridhar had come up with perhaps the most suitable term for the former India skipper’s keeping. The India fielding coach admitted that Dhoni’s technique is unorthodox before stating that it does the job for him. Stating that Dhoni follows his own style of keeping Sridhar went on to say that he would love to do a research on it and title it as ‘The Mahi way’.

“Dhoni has got his own style, which is so successful for him. I think we can do a research into his style of wicketkeeping and I would like to call it ˜The Mahi Way’. There are so many things to learn from that and so many things that other young keepers may not even be able to contemplate. He is unique in his own way and that is exactly how cricketers should be ” unique in their own way,” Sridhar said ahead of the fifth ODI against South Africa.

“Dhoni has got great hands. He has definitely the best gloveman as far as keeping for spinners goes. His hands work at the speed of lightning, for stumpings we all know that. That is something which is very innate to him and great to watch. At the same time, for somebody who doesn’t have that skill, it’s a big challenge to get there,” Sridhar added.

Sridhar further said that the Men in Blue are not surrounded by worries for the middle-order. In the last ODI, India had the chance to score well over 300. However, the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Hardik Pandya failed as India posted a below-par total.

“There is a worry though in the form of the middle order, given that the batting has been too reliant on Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan in this series. The whole endeavour is to look at the state of the game and see which player can be the best at that particular situation. And to give our other batsmen, apart from obviously MS, a chance to go there, take the responsibility and take the game till the end,” he said.

“We want more finishers, we want to train and groom more finishers. At the same time, we also want our nos. 5,6,7 to be able to go in, learn the situation and adapt to it. That is why you see the rotation, but very soon I think we will be settling into a fixed 5,6 & 7 as we get closer to the World Cup,” Sridhar concluded.

History awaiting Team India:

Meanwhile, India is leading the six-match series 3-1 and a win will help them win the series. India have never won a bilateral series against South Africa at home and have got a golden opportunity to beak the duck.

Here’s the news feed:

SA vs IND, 2018: MS Dhoni tees off in the nets ahead of Port Elizabeth ODI

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