MSK Prasad Defends MS Dhoni's Dismal Show During The World Cup

The former India, skipper MS Dhoni, has had a poor outing in the recently concluded ICC World Cup 2019. Since then, there have been widespread speculations about his retirement while Dhoni made him unavailable for the West Indies tour. Amidst all these, chairman of selectors MSK Prasad has defended Dhoni’s poor campaign saying that he was a significant strength during the World Cup.

MSK Prasad heaps praise on Dhoni

MS Dhoni has struggled throughout the World Cup failing to lead the middle-order. He scored at a rate of below 100 which had put pressure on opponent batters resulting Indi bowling out of the competition from the semifinals. Since then, there have been a lot of perceptions with Dhoni’s future in the Indian team. It increased manifolds when the veteran cricketer made himself unavailable for West Indies series. Instead, Dhoni preferred to spend time with his paramilitary regiment in Kashmir.

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But MSK Prasad has backed the underfire MS Dhoni calling him the best finisher and wicket-keeper in the limited-overs format. He also added the Jharkhand-born cricketer was a great strength to Virat Kohli & Co throughout the Wolrd Cup with his on-field decision.

“I can clearly say this that till today MS [Dhoni] is the best glovemen and finisher in India in the shorter formats. The others are still work in progress. MS was a big strength to this team in the World Cup both as a batsman and keeper, apart from sharing his vast experience with the team and captain while taking on-field decisions,” MSK Prasad told PTI.

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Furthermore, MSK Prasad revealed that MS Dhoni had confirmed that he will not be available for selection for West Indies tour. He also said that a cricketer of his stature should have the freedom to go out on his terms. However, Prasad remained tight-lipped on whether Dhoni will come back to the side once he makes himself available for the home series against South Africa and Bangladesh.

“I have very clearly told post the selection of the Indian team against West Indies, that we have a plan post World Cup to give as many opportunities as possible to Rishabh and groom him so that he can grow in confidence and perform as per the requirements of the team,” Prasad he concluded.