India grooming young wicketkeepers to face future post MS Dhoni retirement, says MSK Prasad

National selection committee chairman MSK Prasad in an interesting revelation said MS Dhoni is still the best limited-overs wicketkeeper in the country but insisted that they are grooming a pool of young stumpers by giving them opportunities on ‘A’ tours.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday in Bengaluru where India’s squad for the upcoming tours and fixtures were announced, Prasad revealed the committee is keen on identifying potential successors for MS Dhoni, who is expected to retire after the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

The former India captain, as expected, was included both the ODI and T20I teams for the England tour, starting July 3 in Manchester. Notably, the 36-year-old has been in fine form in the ongoing Indian Premier League season. The Chennai Super Kings skipper has been key to the success of the two-time champions, hitting 360 runs, including three half-centuries and a season-high of 27 sixes, in 10 matches.

The other gloveman in the fray, Dinesh Karthik has also retained his place in the limited-overs set-up after impressive performances in Nidahas Trophy tri-nation T20I tournament in Sri Lanka and IPL 2018.

BCCI keen to get more wicketkeepers

Keeping in mind the future post-Dhoni’s retirement, the likes of Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson have been picked for India A team’s tri-series in England to brew themselves up. Young Andhra stumper Srikar Bharat has also roped in a place in the Rahul Dravid-coached side for four-day matches in the United Kingdom.

According to IBtimes, Prasad was quoted saying, “Dhoni has been doing extremely well. Of course, we tried out DK [Karthik] in Nidahas Trophy and him did really well. But Dhoni is still the best wicketkeeper that India has.”

He added, “Yes, we are trying to get more wicketkeepers. We have about six of them. They get their chances in the A team so that they get prepared for the next level.”

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