I don't think anyone can replace MS Dhoni at present: Virender Sehwag

Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag believes that there is no wicket-keeper batsman in India at the moment who can replace MS Dhoni in the national setup. Over the last few months, there have been questions hovering over the position of MS Dhoni in the national side. Ever since he stepped down as the captain of the limited overs side, there has been an increased pressure on Dhoni to perform.

The latest remarks made by chief selector MSK Prasad confirmed that Dhoni is no longer an automatic selection in the national team. Recently, Virender Sehwag made a few bold statements about the same. He noted that there is absolutely no scheme wherein Dhoni should be excluded from the team. He feels that Dhoni should continue till 2019 World Cup. In the meantime, someone like Rishabh Pant can be groomed.

“I don’t think anyone can replace Dhoni at this point of time. Rishabh Pant is good but he would also need time to replace him. But that can only happen after 2019. It’s then when we should think about Dhoni’s replacement. Till then let Pant gain experience,” quoted Virender Sehwag as per the quotes in PTI.

”We should not worry about whether Dhoni is scoring runs or not. We should only pray that MS Dhoni is fit till 2019 World Cup. The experience that he has in the middle and the lower middle order, no one has that,” he added.

Trying to analyze the phase that MS Dhoni is going through, Virender Sehwag made an analogy to life for explaining the same. He said that it is all a cycle of life wherein Dhoni has seen the top and now is having a tumultuous time. It is not everyday that someone can make a profit.

”Like life, the beauty of sports is that no two periods are identical. You will have to deal with it. There are days when you make runs and there will be a dry spell. Like in business, every year you don’t make profits,” Sehwag remarked.

On KL Rahul replacing Dhoni as ‘keeper

In the recent times, there has been a school of thought that sees KL Rahul replacing Dhoni as the wicket keeper in the team. Sehwag absolutely ridiculed the idea about the same. He mentioned that such ideas can work only in the T20 cricket and not in ODIs. Only a specialist keeper can replace Dhoni.

”I would never want a guy, who is not a natural ‘keeper. It’s not keeping 20 overs in Indian Premier League. During a 50-over match, one missed stumping or missed catch can change the course of the match. It’s not a risk worth taking,” said Sehwag.

On R Ashwin being rested

Another cricketer who has been under the scrutiny in limited overs is R Ashwin. Ashwin was reportedly rested from the Sri Lanka series. However, now that he is participating in the County Championships, it looks evident that he was dropped from the side. Commenting on the same, Virender Sehwag stated that this issue can only be explained by the board and Ashwin himself. He believes that the team wants him to focus on the England series of 2018.

“I thought that he was being given a break as he has bowled a lot in the Test series. Ideally, he should have been given rest but then it’s a decision that Ashwin and team management needed to take. I don’t know what’s in their minds. May be they are focussing on winning the Test series in England next year and if that’s the case, then so be it,” remarked Virender Sehwag.