No one has a sharper cricketing brain than MS Dhoni, says Lalchand Rajput

MS Dhoni is hated by some and loved by many. One shouldn’t forget the fact that no one has a better cricketing brain than MS Dhoni in the current Indian team.

Lalchand Rajput who was a Team Manager during India’s World Cup T20 2007 reign under astute leadership traits of MS Dhoni, has spoken in support of Captain Cool.

“At present, we don’t have anyone in the team who has a sharper brain than Dhoni’s. He is a superb thinker and is always two steps ahead of others,” he said.

Rajput shrugged off infamous talks of MS Dhoni calling curtains as that doesn’t seem to be correct. He also went on to say that Dhoni should play as long as he wants to.

MS Dhoni is in good shape just like other cricketers too. He is an intelligent cricketer who has a swift running between the wickets to put pressure on the opposition.

“To me, talks of him stepping down doesn’t sound logical because I don’t see any player doing so well that he could replace Dhoni in T20s. Also, I don’t see any reason why he shouldn’t continue playing till he wants.

He is as fit as anybody else in the team, and he is a brilliant runner between the wickets other than being very sharp while keeping. And above all, he is still one of the best finishers,” Rajput told TOI on Friday.

Lalchand Rajput also recalled MS Dhoni’s golden era when his tactical masterclass of going with Joginder Sharma right at the death brought victory to India.

“People may feel that giving the last over to Joginder was a fluke decision. But I know that it was a well thought out one. Many didn’t notice but he had tried Joginder in the last over of one of the earlier matches too (against Australia in the semis).

In one of the team meetings, Dhoni told me that Joginder can be crucial in the last over as he can bowl good yorkers. But more than that, Joginder keeps a straight face all the time, making it impossible for others to know whether he is under pressure or not,” Rajput said.