Former India spinner Pragyan Ojha who recently announced his retirement from international cricket has praised his ex-captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, citing that the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman was a “bowler’s captain.” Ojha had played 24 Tests and 18 ODIs between 2008 and 2013 and he mostly played his international cricket under the captaincy of MS Dhoni.
“He (Dhoni) was a bowler’s captain. I strongly believe that a bowler should have a captain who understands him. A lot of bowlers praise Dhoni because of the dimensions he gives you, things that he helps you with like placing the field, keeping your mind clear which are important when you play high-intensity games,” he said.
Before announcing his retirement from all forms of international cricket on Friday, his last appearance came in November 2018 in a first-class game while playing for Bihar. However, he had a very short stint with Bihar. In his last game for India, he awarded with a Man of the Match award for his brilliant performance. He produced a 10-wicket match haul in India’s innings win over West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium way back in 2013. The match was also Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell Test and also a memorable one for every fan.
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Tendulkar took to Twitter and shared a picture of his with his former teammate where he captioned the photo as, “@pragyanojha, it was always great to see your big heart & skill at work. You made my last Test special by picking 10 wickets. Welcome to the second innings club, my friend!”
Ojha had made his international debut way back in 2008 against Bangladesh in Karachi and after one year he made his Test debut against Sri Lanka as well. The spinner then played 24 Tests, 18 ODIs and 6 T20Is for India and finished with a total of 144 wickets across formats. In Tests, he managed to take 113 wickets, with the best bowling figures of 6 for 47. He last played in 2018 during a first-class match in Dehradun. He also played in the Indian Premier League for the Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians.
As far as MS Dhoni is concerned, he is expected to make his return to cricket with Chennai Super Kings at the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League. He has been out of action since India’s semifinal defeat to New Zealand at the 2019 ICC World Cup in England.
