In the last couple of years, former Indian skipper, MS Dhoni’s batting style has received a lot of criticism and because of that, MSK Prasad, chief of India’s selection panel, stand to persist with the underperforming Dhoni deserves some appreciation. He could only manage to score 275 runs in 20 innings last year and in the process, he recorded his worst average and strike rate in a calendar year since his debut in 2004. That MS was even booed during his ODI knock at Lord’s last year pretty much tells the story.

What made things tough for the selectors was the emergence of Rishabh Pant and the red-hot form of Dinesh Karthik. While Pant was taking the world by storm, Karthik was showing remarkable consistency and his credentials as a finisher. On the other hand, Dhoni was looking to lose his mojo and was struggling to put up performances expected from him.

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However, the selectors and the team-management kept on giving chances to the wicketkeeper-batsman and the latter finally justified the faith shown in him in 2019. He began 2019 with a bang, scoring three consecutive fifties in the ODI series against Australia to help India win their first-ever bilateral series down under. He finished the series as India’s top run-scorer and became the oldest Indian player to bag the Man of the Series award.

 In a recent interview with Sportstar, Prasad said he is happy to see Dhoni scoring runs before restating that the latter is the best wicketkeeper in the world.

The Indian chief selector said, “I am absolutely happy to see Mahi among the runs and winning the Man of the Series award for his batting performance in Australia. I have also always said that he is still the best wicketkeeper in the world. Apart from that, he is hugely experienced and brings a sense of calmness to the team in crunch situations. The chemistry between Virat and Mahi is only going to help the team in a major event and I can openly say that they have huge respect for each other.”

Prasad also said that the core of the Indian team is very much confirmed for the upcoming World Cup. He acknowledged that the team management might make some experiments against Australia but the selectors are unlikely to spring a surprise in the World Cup squad.

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The chief selector said, “We are very clear about our core group of players. We might only look at certain permutations and combinations against the Aussies at home. Otherwise, we are very clear about our team for the World Cup.”