"It’s not that I’m not enjoying the game right now" - MSD answers Shastri's comment on captaincy

ByAmlan Majumdar, SportsCafe Editor

06/07/2016

Indian skipper MS Dhoni has insisted that language should not be the biggest criteria to select the coach for the national team. However, the 34-year-old has stressed on the importance of the coach understanding the 'culture' of Indian cricket in a press conference ahead of their trip to Zimbabwe.

“Communication won't be too much of a problem. Hindi can be a criteria, but not the only criteria,” Dhoni said, when asked about the BCCI's decision to include the ability to communicate in Hindi as a 'desirable' criteria. “However, the availability of foreign coaches might be a problem as the Indian team plays a lot of cricket, and they won't get too much time with their families. In the end, more than communication barriers, we have to focus on people who can understand the culture of cricket played here,” he added.

Dhoni was also asked to opine on former team director Ravi Shastri's recent comment, where he had stated that Virat Kohli should be awarded the captaincy in all the three formats of the game, and that it will allow Dhoni to enjoy his game at this stage of his career. Dhoni replied, “It’s not that I’m not enjoying the game right now. I enjoy my game, and the captaincy decision will be take by the BCCI”.

When asked what motivated him at this stage of his career, Dhoni said, "I have answered this question plenty of times. My main motivation is that one can play for the national team only for a brief period of time. In order to fulfill that, my body has to be fit enough to handle the workload. I don’t mind the form too much as it goes up and down."

Going back to the concern around his workload, Dhoni added, "Many people have said that wicket-keeping and batting can give too much workload. But right from the U-16 level, the workload of a wicketkeeper is fixed( do not have to keep for more than 90 overs a day), but for a bowler, he might have to bowl 12, 13 or 20 overs in a day, which can vary."

Dhoni will be leading a completely changed squad on this tour, and he insisted that utilizing these new players to the best of their abilities can prove to be a challenge.

“A different experience because till now I have played with the same group of players, and they know their responsibilities and share their strengths with each other. With a lot of new players, we have to assess their strengths, and how they can be utilized to the fullest, which is a challenge. A lot of these players have been in the domestic circuit for some time now. Also, Zimbabwe is a place where toss is very important, especially during day games and we have to quickly adapt to the conditions there,” Dhoni explained.

Dhoni also gave his opinion on the suggestion that the visiting teams should be allowed to decide whether to bat or bowl first in order to negate the home advantage. He said, “It is a very difficult question to answer. This is something that should be discussed over a cup of tea and whether it would work or not can only be seen if it is tried out, and there’s no harm in trying. But, on most occasions the away team won’t get what they want and that’s how cricket goes”.

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