Ever since MS Dhoni made him unavailable from International Cricket, his retirement news has been taking a troll. However, India opener Shikhar Dhawan said the decision to call time on his career is solely depended on Dhoni. Dhawan made his international debut under Dhoni’s captaincy and he shared that Dhoni knows each and every player’s strength.
“Dhoni has been playing for so long, I feel he understands when he should retire. This should be his decision. He has taken very important decisions so far for India in his career and I’m sure he will make the call when the time comes,” Shikhar Dhawan said on India TV’s show ‘Aap Ki Adalat’ hosted by Rajat Sharma.
“That’s the quality of a big leader. He knows the potential of every player, and knows to what extent a player should be backed. He knows how to make a champion out of a player. India’s success during his captaincy justifies this. His (Dhoni’s) control is his biggest quality,” Dhawan added.
He further expressed that all the members of the current team, including captain Virat Kohli, has immense respect for Dhoni.
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“Dhoni bhai has been quite successful as the captain of the side. We are all very grateful to him and we respect him a lot, and the same goes for Virat,” he said. “When Virat was young, he guided him immensely. Even when he became the captain, Dhoni bhai was always there to help him. This is the quality of a leader. It’s good to see that Virat is showing his gratitude to him now,” he said.
On the other hand, he backed out-of-form Rishabh Pant, whose performance has come under the scanner recently after failing to perform with the bat.
“Rishabh is very talented and I am sure he will have a long career for India. He is trying hard. There are situations when you don’t score, but then you learn from them. It happens with everyone and I’m sure he will learn from it. He (Pant) is a good player and we need to back good players. Even I went through rough patches in my life, and I still do. It is part and parcel of this game,” Shikhar Dhawan said.
