Rahul Dravid sees no viable alternative to MS Dhoni

Many Indian cricket experts have demanded Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s removal from captaincy, but Rahul Dravid, the former skipper, believes that there is no viable alternative to the current captain.

Dhoni is under heavy criticism following India’s 2-1 loss at the hands of England. In the four-match Test series, the Men in Blue started off the proceeding in great style, winning the opening game by nine wickets.

After taking 1-0 lead in the first match, the home side completely lost rhythm, and suffered defeat in the following two games. The fourth and final encounter at Nagpur ended in draw.

A few former players such as Sunil Gavaskar and Kris Srikkanth have asked for Dhoni’s head, but Dravid has an entirely different take on this. He feels Dhoni is the man to take the side forward.

"At the moment I don’t really see a viable alternative. I really think Dhoni can be the man to take India forward if he has the energy, passion and the enjoyment to do it. That’s again the key," Dravid told ‘ESPNCricinfo‘.

"It’s really going to come down to a lot of these players actually sitting back themselves, once the emotion has gone back, and calmly reassessing where they’re at, and their roads to the future and the joy and enthusiasm they have to take Indian cricket
forward. If Dhoni has it, I believe he is the right man to do it but that’s really up to him to decide," he said.

Alongside the wicket-keeper batsman, Sachin Tendulkar is under fire. The Master Blaster did nothing good in the entire series, except a half-century. Dravid has stated that it is entirely Tendulkar’s call, and if he is still ready for the job, everyone should
support him.

"He’s been a huge servant of the game and been fantastic for Indian cricket. He is a great player and this period has been difficult for him. He is a proud man and this would have hurt him,” said Dravid.

He added, "If he truly believes that, ‘Yes, I can be around when India makes these foreign trips, if I can be around in South Africa, New Zealand, England, playing at my best,’ then I think it makes sense for him to back himself and fight it out."

"If he, at any stage, doubts himself and believes that he can’t then he’s got to start thinking about his career, and what’s the future of Indian cricket as well. So it’s really going to be up to him."

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=36322

Posted by Rana Nasir Ghafoor on Dec 18 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry