Dhoni has all qualities to lead India: Vengsarkar

By IANS

Mumbai : Mahendra Singh Dhoni has all the qualities of making a perfect captain and will be around for some time to come, Dilip Vengsarkar, chairman of the selection committee, said Tuesday after naming him as skipper of the Indian one-day international side.


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Addressing a crowded news conference at the Board for Cricket Control in India (BCCI) headquarters here, Vengsarkar said: “Dhoni is young and has all the qualities of a good captain and it is the right time to groom him.

Dhoni, 26, replaces Rahul Dravid as captain for the ODI home series against Australia and Pakistan.

The dashing batsman and wicket-keeper is currently leading India at the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa.

Dravid, who had opted out of the Twenty20, had made himself unavailable for the captaincy to concentrate on his batting after the recent tour of England.

Commenting on the players who have made a comeback to the ODI side, Vengsarkar said, “Harbajan Singh and Irfan (Pathan) have played in the Twenty20 at different stages and have made a comeback. Irfan is a fine all-rounder, he’s inclusion gives us more options to juggle with. He will probably be batting in number seven or eight slot.”

Queried about the pending selection of the Test captain, he said: “Test captaincy is a tougher proposition, so we will have to think of other options also.”

Asked if former captain and batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar was making a comeback as Test skipper, Vengsarkar said: “No, we have not spoken to anyone over the captaincy for the Tests.”

Rejecting any possibility of Dhoni facing difficulties in leading the team that includes three former captains – Dravid, Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, the chief selector said: “All the senior players will give him their support. And remember, (Mohammad) Azharuddin had played under five former captains in the team in England during the 1990s.

“Dhoni is only playing under three, so it will be good for him.”

Brushing aside reports of his open criticism of Dravid’s captaincy in media columns, Vengsarkar said, “Neither have I criticised Dravid nor interfered as reported. This is a figment of somebody’s imagination and nothing else. It is not true at all.”

Asked if as chief selector, he had tried to persuade Dravid to stay on, the former Indian batsman said: “No, I respect his decision and that all. Neither did I discuss the matter with him nor did he.”

Commenting on the possible reasons that made Dravid quit, Vengsarkar blamed media hype and media scrutiny.

“May be, he could not take the media hype and media scrutiny was too much for him and may be that’s why he quit. Probably he couldn’t take it any more and that’s why he quit,” he said.

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