Wasim Jaffer bats for MS Dhoni: The former Indian opening batsman wants the legendary wicket-keeper batsman to travel to Australia.
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Veteran India wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s stature is such that he remains in the news even without playing competitive cricket for more than eight months now.
Dhoni, who last played for India during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, missed the West Indies tour (and all subsequent series) last year due to his training for the parachute regiment of the Indian Army in Kashmir valley. Dhoni was in the news in January when his name wasn’t to be found in the list of annually contracted Indian players.
Dhoni’s plentiful fans were awaiting for the next season of the Indian Premier League to watch their favourite cricketer take the field. Having said that, with IPL 2020 getting postponed due to the outbreak of coronavirus, the fans’ wait has increased by at least 15 days.
There is no hiding to the fact that Dhoni’s performance in IPL 2020 is also likely to highlight his chances (if any) of playing the ICC T20 World Cup later this year.
Being recently asked about Dhoni’s chances of making it to the T20 World Cup squad, former India opening batsman Virender Sehwag questioned his batting position in the current T20I squad.
“Where will he [MS Dhoni] fit in? With the likes of Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul already in form, especially the latter performing exceptionally well of late, I think there is no reason why we should not stick with them,” Sehwag was quoted as saying by India.com.
Wasim Jaffer bats for MS Dhoni
Wasim Jaffer, who has opened the batting alongside Sehwag in 16 Test Test matches, shared a contradicting opening with respect to Dhoni playing the showpiece event in Australia.
Jaffer, who retired from all forms of cricket earlier this month, took to his Twitter account to share his opinion regarding a fit and in-form Dhoni being an “asset” for the Indian team. The 42-year old believed that Dhoni’s presence can ease the pressure on Rahul and able India to play a left-hander in Pant in the middle-order.
If Dhoni is fit and in form I think we can’t look beyond him as he’ll be an asset behind the stumps and also lower down the order. It’ll take the pressure of keeping off Rahul and India can play Pant as a batsman too if they want a lefty. #Dhoni #MSDhoni #IPL2020 pic.twitter.com/6ndDfdhkap
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) March 18, 2020
If India go by Jaffer’s opinion, they will have to drop Manish Pandey from No. 6 as the last few matches have seen him getting a go ahead of Pant.
