Former Indian skipper Krishnamachari Srikkanth praised the Indian cricketers Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni. While Srikkanth impressed on Kohli’s leadership quality, he also added that Dhoni would surely appear in 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup if he was the selection committee chairman.
Srikkanth has impressed on Virat Kohli’s overall attitude for the game and for the nation. The former Indian captain believes that the present Indian team mostly depends on Kohli to chase the big totals.
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Srikkanth told according to eenaduindia.com, “If today India is ever chasing a target of 300 plus, it depends on Virat Kohli. When we talk about stats Virat has scored 24 centuries in India’s cases and 21 of them have been for a winning cause. Virat has a superb combination of passion, aggression and responsibility.”
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The former Indian captain further compared Kohli’s captaincy with the first Indian World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev (2011).
Srikkanth added, “The country needs a leader who believes in himself and believes in the team and Kapil did it for us like Virat is doing for the youngsters nowadays.”
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On the other hand, Srikkanth has backed the former Indian captain MS Dhoni by claiming that the wicketkeeper-batsman would be surely in his team if he was the selection committee chairman for the upcoming Cricket World Cup which is just four months away.
According to TOI, Srikkanth quoted, “If I was the chairman of the selection committee, I would pick him for the 2019 World Cup for sure. The World Cup is a different cup of tea altogether, where we will need a senior cricketer like him. He’ll be a guiding factor on the field to the captain and the team. His importance will be felt in crunch situations. He may not be the big-hitter that he was before … that’s a different issue, but he’s still got it in him.”
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After having a rarest full off-year in 2018 with the bat, Dhoni has returned to his lethal vintage batting format at the very beginning of the New Year (2019). While he didn’t play a 50+ knock in ODI in last year and had only 25.00 averages, Dhoni has played two half-century knocks in the first ODIs of the New Year (2019).
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Srikkanth added, “You have to see the importance of Dhoni as a package — not just as a batsman or a wicketkeeper. Debates and ups and downs will always be there. You’ll be a hero in one match, and a zero in another. That’s a part and parcel of cricket. Pant can be in the team as a batsman. Even with Dhoni being in the side Pant is very good, and will be a big contender for a spot.”