Dhoni is the best guy to look after the youngsters, remarks MSK Prasad

The Chief Selector of team India, Mr. MSK Prasad, recently spoke at length about the Indian team in a conversation with The Hindu. The entire assembly of the junior and the senior selectors had met at the Cricket Centre in Mumbai recently. This was the first time that all the selectors had assembled under one roof ever since the sacking of Anurag Thakur and Ajay Shirke. MSK Prasad informed that it was the BCCI CEO Rahul Johri, who acted as the convener in the meeting.

The selection committee recently named the squads for the limited-overs series against England. Virat Kohli was named as the full-time captain of the team. The chief selector revealed that the teams were discussed with Virat before finalising it. “Virat has spoken to us on Skype, about the best possible combination and only after discussion, did we decide (on the teams),” quoted MSK Prasad.

Virat’s appointment as India’s full-time skipper comes as a result of MS Dhoni suddenly deciding to step down from the captaincy a couple of days ago. Speaking on this, the Chief Selector reflected that he had good interactions with MS Dhoni in Nagpur during the Ranji semi-finals. It was only after thorough discussions that Dhoni decided to step down as the captain and sent the message to the board.

“Last four days, I was in Nagpur (for the Ranji Trophy semifinals), and he was very much part of the Jharkhand side (as team mentor). We chatted about things going ahead for him. On the last day, he informed the BCCI and also me, since I was there, that it was time to move on,” quoted Prasad.

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Despite stepping down from the coveted post, the selectors still handed Dhoni the captaincy of the India A team. On being asked why Dhoni was burdened with captaincy again, Prasad said that the wicket-keeper batsman is a natural captain. He tagged MSD as the ideal player to guide the youngsters.

He quoted, “He is the best guy to look after the youngsters. We know what Mahi does. It is not about him stepping down or anything like that. He is a captain by nature; he leads from the front. Dhoni went to Zimbabwe also for the same reason and that is why he is named India-A captain.”

Another surprising decision by the selectors was the inclusion of veteran batsman Yuvraj Singh in both ODI and T20 squads. Speaking about the faith that the selectors have shown in Yuvraj for the shorter formats of the game, MSK Prasad ticked that the southpaw has been in a great form. His recent performances in the Ranji Trophy is what has helped him earn the comeback to the national side.

“We should appreciate the way Yuvraj has played in the domestic circuit. All these days, we felt he has not played those long innings. In fact, he played some fantastic knocks, scored a double hundred, then he got runs on a dicey wicket at Lahli,” conceded the Chief Selector.