India vs Windies 2018: It is Crucial for MS Dhoni to Get his Confidence Back - Sourav Ganguly

Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly believes it is pivotal for MS Dhoni to get his confidence back. India’s former captain MS Dhoni isn’t in the best of forms and thus he has been under the scanner in the recent past. Dhoni has failed to rotate the strike with success. Thus, Dhoni’s strike rate has come down which has build pressure on other players.

However, Virat Kohli and the team management has backed MS Dhoni and they believe Dhoni will return back to his best. Dhoni is definitely in India’s plan for the next year World Cup and it is imperative for him to get back into form.

In fact, Sourav Ganguly believes Virat Kohli should let MS Dhoni bat at number three position. Dhoni had scored his maiden ODI hundred while playing at number three at the same venue of Vizag against Pakistan.

“Virat should make Dhoni play at No.3 spot. He’s performed well at Vishakapatnam before against Pakistan and can do it again. Once he starts scoring runs, he will get his confidence back and after that, you can send him at the No.5 position. It’s important for Dhoni to get his confidence back. We know what Virat is capable off in one day cricket but the others should get a chance as well,” Sourav Ganguly said while talking to IndiaTV.

Meanwhile, Sourav Ganguly is not interested in drawing comparisons between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Both the batsmen were on fire in the previous match. However, Ganguly believes as long as both the talisman will score runs, it will help India in winning matches.

“I’m not interested in who wins the race between Virat and Rohit, I’m happy when India wins. When both of them play at their level best, scoring centuries, the opposition’s bowlers seem like they’re playing at a club level. In this race, Virat is ahead as he has 36 hundreds and Rohit has 20. The numbers put him ahead but the impact on the team has made a huge difference and many teams have not been able to win One Day matches because of them. Dhawan has also been brilliant as he has 15 tons and he isn’t too far behind as well.  If they play well, India plays well.”

On the other hand, Ganguly believes Virat Kohli is a great player of this generation. Kohli’s consistency is unmatched and he is doing a fine job in producing runs like a machine. The right-hander needs another 81 runs to complete 10,000 runs in ODI version.

“In the 212 ODIs he has played, he’s close to the 10K mark and he’s only 30 years old. Nobody knows at what number he would finish. Be it One Day or Test cricket. At every point of time, India produces it’s best players such as 70-780’s had Gavaskar, 90’s to 2000’s it was Sachin and since 2010 it has been Virat. He’s a great player of this generation. He wins matches for India, the biggest plus point for the team.”

Ganguly went on add that if one player scores consistently, it is an inspiration for other players to follow the same footsteps. The Prince of Kolkata had the same feeling when he used to bat with Sachin Tendulkar.

“There’s no competition amongst players but surely there is an inspiration. Be it Rohit, Shikhar or Ambati, they have the mentality that if he can do it, so can I. I used to open with Sachin and he used to smash away runs. I had a feeling that if I didn’t score, people would laugh at me. They would think that who did they send to play along with such a great player. This helps you build your game and raise your personal level.”

India will square off with Windies in the second ODI at Visakhapatnam today. Meanwhile, MS Dhoni will like to get back into form.