Former Pakistan fast bowler, Shoaib Akhtar reckons that MS Dhoni has “dragged it for so long” and the latter should’ve announced his retirement after last year’s ODI World Cup. Akhtar said he hopes the 38-year-old Dhoni gets a resounding farewell despite extending his retirement without any notice.
Talkin to PTI from Islamabad, Akhtar said, “This guy has served to the best of his ability. I don’t know why he dragged it for so long. He should have retired after the World Cup. If I would have been in his place, I would have hung up my boots. I could have played shorter formats for three-four years but I left (after the 2011 WC) as I wasn’t into the game 100 percent.”
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Dhoni hasn’t played any competitive game since the World Cup semifinal in July and he eas expected to make a comeback during the 13th edition of the IPL, which now seems very unlikely. If he had done well in the IPL, there was a possibility of him playing the T20 World Cup in October-November. Akhtar believes Dhoni deserves a grand send-off despite the anti-climactic turn of events.
Shoiab further added, “As a country, you should let him go with a lot of respect and dignity. He has won you the World Cup and done wonders for India. When he could not finish the game in the semifinal (against New Zealand). I felt he should have retired but he can only answer why he didn’t. He should have played a farewell series after the World Cup may be and then said goodbye in a manner befitting his great stature.”
Akhtar doesn’t see any cricket happening for the next six to eight months as coronavirus is wreaking havoc around the world.
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Former pacer explained, “However, I don’t see that series happening. My assessment is there won’t be any cricket for next one year. The T20 World Cup is not going to happen. We are dealing with a pandemic at the moment. Any industry, which requires crowd gathering, is going to suffer.”
