Dhoni is future India captain: Prasanna

By IANS

New Delhi : Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the “future captain” and should be ready to lead India in the next World Cup, said legendary spinner Erapalli Prasanna welcoming Dhoni’s appointment Tuesday as captain of the Indian One day International cricket team.


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“We should keep in mind that we won’t have the services of Dravid, (Sachin) Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly for a long time. Dhoni is the future captain and should be ready to lead the team in the 2011 World Cup,” Prasanna told IANS.

“I think the upcoming series against Australia and Pakistan will be a testing time for the young lad, which will also be a learning experience for him,” said Prasanna.

Dhoni will have some tough times ahead when India host world champions Australia in a seven-match one-day series from Sep 29 to Oct 17. The Pakistani team will visit India for five ODIs and three Test matches to be played between Nov 6 and Dec 12.

“It will be very difficult for Dhoni to captain India in the country because he will face a lot of criticism by many so-called cricket experts. But he shouldn’t bother much and try to take the best out of his team mates,” said Prasanna.

He added that even if Dhoni fails, the selectors should continue with him and groom him for the future.

Dhoni, currently leading India at the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa, replaces Rahul Dravid who stepped down from captaincy to concentrate on his batting.

Dhoni’s appointment also came in for praise from Chandu Borde, former India captain and team manager.

“This is a policy which the selectors have started and I think they have done a commendable job in appointing Dhoni as the captain. He is a nice guy and his appointment is a step ahead for Indian cricket,” Borde told IANS from his Pune residence.

Borde was appointed the team manager for India’s tour to England and he is one of the former players who has seen the 26-year-old Dhoni from close quarters.

“I have seen him very closely during the England tour and I found him acceptable by both the seniors and the juniors. And I don’t find any reason why he won’t be able to get the team together,” said Borde.

Former batsman Ashok Malhotra reiterated Prasanna’s view and said that Dhoni shouldn’t be a stopgap captain.

Dhoni by nature is a hard-hitting batsman and can change the game according to the situation. So far he has played 84 ODIs since making his debut against Bangladesh at Dhaka in 2004 and scored 2,477 runs at 44.23. In 20 Tests, he has scored 1,019 runs at 36.39.

“His meteoric rise in international cricket should testify his appointment as the captain. Dhoni has shown enough maturity to get this role,” said Abbas Ali Baig.

Asked whether Dhoni can settle all the differences in the team, Baig said: “My advice to him on this issue will be that he should listen to all. But he should go by his own instincts.”

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