Virat Kohli’s defence of Dhoni is not based on ground realities and seems to be partisan. Dhoni’s present performances with the bat and flourishes behind the stumps have lost the sheen of his prime days and he has long ceased to deliver as a finisher in crunch situations. His batting reflexes have also been on the wane and he is no longer the match winner that he used to be in his heydays. There comes a time when every sporting icon has to call it a day and Dhoni is no exception to this rule. By unnecessarily lingering on in the team, he is blocking the chances of budding stumpers who are waiting in the wings. With major world tournaments on the horizon in the none-too-foreseeable future, it is high time that the national selectors take a call and summoned the likes of Rishabh Pant so as to groom them properly for the forthcoming mega events. All through his career, MSD has been an excellent ambassador of the game and it would be in the fitness of things that he relinquishes his position on his own in order to make way for others.
Amit Banerjee
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
