Gautam Gambhir points out the major reason behind MS Dhoni’s appointment as a mentor for T20 World Cup

BCCI chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma and his team announced a strong 15-man Indian squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021 tournament. There are many surprising inclusions and exclusions in the side. However, one biggest surprise was MS Dhoni’s appointment as a mentor for the marquee event.

It was stated by Jay Shah, BCCI secretary, that he had a word with the former Indian skipper Dhoni during his stay in Dubai and later captain, vice-captain, and the team management were informed about the same and all of them are currently on the same page regarding MS Dhoni’s role for the big event.

Dhoni, who announced his retirement in August 2020, is all set for the Indian Premier League 2021 UAE leg for Chennai Super Kings and he will stay in UAE to oversee Team India’s preparations for the ICC event. Speaking about the Dhoni appointment, former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir tried to dissect the reason behind choosing ‘captain cool’ for this role. 

“I am sure his (Dhoni’s) role will be defined. You’ve got the head coach, you’ve got the assistant coach, you’ve got the bowling coach. So I am sure there has to be something from Virat Kohli or from Ravi Shastri that they would want apart from what they already have. Because India has been very successful in T20 cricket. It’s not that India struggled in T20 cricket. Had India struggled in T20 cricket, they might have had to get someone from outside,” Gambhir told ‘Follow The Blues’ on Star Sports Network.

It’s just about how to handle pressure in those important games: Gautam Gambhir

Gambhir feels MS has an invaluable experience of handling pressure in crunch moments and that could be the biggest reason behind him getting a chance to mentor the national side. During his captaincy career, MSD had faced a lot of pressure situations and he overcame them with smart tactics, which Team India badly need going into the T20 WC.

“But probably, MS’ experience or probably his mindset of handling pressure in those crunch games is probably the reason why they have got him as a mentor. Not purely from a skill point of view, because these guys have got all the skills to go out there and deliver.”

“It’s just about how to handle pressure in those important games. Because India have actually missed out on those important games, especially the knockout games. So probably MS’ experience of captaining the side or probably handling the pressure in those important games could be a huge advantage for these young players.”

Team India last won an ICC event back in 2013 under MS Dhoni and since then they have lost the 2014 T20 World Cup, 2015 World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup, 2017 Champions Trophy, and the most recent World Test Championship in 2021.