Nasser Hussain Heaps Praises On MS Dhoni, Says He Is Hugely Important For India At World Cup

Former England skipper Nasser Hussain has opined that MS Dhoni will be crucial to team India’s chances at World Cup 2019 and has termed him as an important player.

Backing his case, Hussain called Dhoni big match player and said that Dhoni bats well in pressure situations.

“MS Dhoni is hugely important for India’s chances at the World Cup. There are certain cricketers around the world who rise to the occasion and are big-match players and Dhoni is one of them. The bigger the occasion and the more the pressure he is under, Dhoni is the one who seems to soak up that pressure and pace the innings brilliantly,” he told firstpost.

There were questions over the place of Dhoni in the Indian team after his poor form in 2018.

Last year, the former Indian skipper scored just 275 runs in ODIs and was also dropped from the T20I squads for the series against West Indies and Australia.

Dhoni made a spectacular comeback in 2019 and shone for Men in Blue in ODI series against Australia in January, that India won 2-1.

He has been in fine form this year and is one of the crucial batsmen in team India’s world cup quest. He has scored 327 runs in ODI format in 2019.

He is in fine form in IPL 2019 as well and has scored 314 runs in seven innings.

Though back issues saw him miss one match while he missed another game due to sickness.

He is in doubt for today’s game against Delhi Capitals as well.

The major area for concern is his back and he would hope to be fully fit for the World Cup.

The batting position of MS Dhoni at the World Cup will be one of the things to watch out.

India did not select a proper number four batsman – Ambati Rayudu was ignored for World Cup – and MS Dhoni is one of the contenders for that spot.

Vijay Shankar or Dinesh Karthik might start out at that batting position but the place could go to Dhoni if both the batsmen do not do well in the World Cup.

If this happens, then the responsibility to finish off the games will be on the shoulders of Hardik Pandya and Karthik.

India kick off their World Cup 2019 campaign against South Africa on June 5.

The team will then face defending champions Australia followed by other seven teams in the tournament.

The final of World Cup will be played on July 14 at Lord’s Cricket Ground.