Asia Cup 2018: We Should Expect Less from MS Dhoni as Batsman - Sanjay Manjrekar

Former Indian batsman and current commentator Sanjay Manjrekar believes we should expect less from MS Dhoni as a batsman. In fact, there is no doubt that Dhoni is not anymore the batsman, he was once in his prime. The former Indian skipper is in the fag end of his career. Thus, his batting form has taken a huge dip in the recent past. Furthermore, Dhoni also struggles to rotate the strike.

Dhoni has scored only one fifty in the last 18 matches as he scored only 386 runs. In fact, he has scored his runs at an average of 27 and below par strike rate. Thus, there is no denying the fact that MS Dhoni’s form with the bat is on a banana peel.

Moreover, Dhoni fails to rotate the strike even with the spread field which puts the pressure on other batsmen. Sanjay Manjrekar said that MS Dhoni is not anymore the world beater that he once was.

“Absolutely but I have always said that at this stage Dhoni is not the world-beater that he was. Just bat him down the order, today ‘(In Asia Cup 2018 final) he should not have come ahead of Kedar Jadhav. Kedar is an in-form batsman, a pure batsman. Tone down your expectations from Dhoni the batsman,” Sanjay Manjrekar said while talking to ESPN Cricinfo.

Meanwhile, there is no doubt that Dhoni brings value to the team with his tactics and experience. He is still the best wicketkeeper for India. However, his batting can be an issue for India. Thus, Manjrekar believes India should start looking at Dhoni’s replacement for the forthcoming World Cup if they have an exciting option.

“He (Dhoni) is a good keeper stumping everything that comes his way, a reliable keeper. Virat Kohli needs a person around him, World Cup pressure around him, a man with all the experience but his batting his clearly a problem and If India has an exciting option to replace Dhoni then they should start looking at it,” Sanjay Manjrekar added.

India’s think tank will hope that MS Dhoni, who has all the experience under his belt, finds his Midas Touch in the five-match ODI series against the Windies. There are approximately 18 ODI matches to go before the World Cup and it is pivotal for India to find the right combination.