Saturday 23 December 2017

Ponting feels Dhoni still has plenty to offer to Indian cricket : Cricket, News

Former Australia cricket captain Ricky Ponting on Saturday arrived to India’s World Cup winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s defence, stating that the seasoned wicketkeeper-batsman might have a considerable part to play at Indias Champions Trophy campaign in June at England.

Dhoni, who announced his retirement from Test cricket at December 2014, quit the captaincy from the limited overs sides’ before this year. He was also eliminated as the captain of the Premier League (IPL) franchise Growing Pune Supergiant.

Though the 35-year-old proceeds to play with the One-Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is), many feel that his best days are behind him.

Dhoni has enjoyed a highly successful career, captaining India to glory at the 2007 World Twenty20 championship, 2011 World Cup along with the 2013 Champions Trophy.

Ponting cautioned against ignoring Dhoni as a dominant force in international cricket, cautioning the Indian’s critics to ‘never write a champion player’.

And he has tipped the 35-year-old might have a significant part to play at the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, stating the veteran’s match might be perfectly suited to both early-season seaming conditions in England.

“I think he can be a significant player in the Indian group, particularly with his experience. Batting at the middle order, he’s someone who can definitely control a one time innings,” Ponting was quoted as saying by Cricket Australia (CA)’s web site.

“And that might be what you desire in England. If the ball does a bit early on, there’s an opportunity India could shed top-order wickets and you would need someone in the center order to steer the ship,” he added.

“We’re talking about someone who’s 35 decades of age and has achieved everything from the sport. He has won a World Cup, he is captained his staff to be the No.1 Test team in the world, he’s captained IPL-winning teams too.

“There’s not much left for him to reach from the match. It’s going to return to just how hungry he is and how far he wants it.”

Ponting said Dhoni is still adapting to life with no captaincy and considers the recent criticism is a by-product of all he’s achieved in over 12 years at the highest level.

“I think it is a drawback of getting the excellent success he’s had over a lengthy time period,” Ponting said. “I’ve been there myself and when you begin to slide just a little bit, criticism is going to come your way. And also to be honest, he probably has not had much negativity come his strategy within the past 15 or 20 decades. So it will be quite interesting to see how he manages that within the coming weeks.

“Things can turn around in this game pretty quickly and something I’ve discovered in this game with champion players would be never to write off them. They consistently find a way to return. It occurred with all (Glenn) McGrath and (Shane) Warne and those great players I was fortunate enough to perform. He will find a way and he will win matches for his team.

“I am pretty sure he has quite a thick epidermis. He has grown up with unbelievable pressure on him captain of India for a long time. He has had some great moments in his profession and right now he’s probably not playing at his absolute best, but it is still there.



source http://www.southwalescricket.co.uk/ponting-feels-dhoni-still-has-plenty-to-offer-to-indian-cricket-cricket-news/

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