Ricky Ponting: Champion players like Dhoni can never be written off
MS Dhoni, who has been under tremendous criticism, has found himself a supporter in Ricky Ponting, who believes Dhoni has the potential to soak up the pressure and make a strong comeback. Ponting further stated that Dhoni's experience will come in handy in the upcoming Champions Trophy tournament
MS Dhoni has been under criticism because of his recent form in the IPL. Although Dhoni has played a couple of good innings for his side, he has lacked the consistency that was once synonymous with him and this has led to people questioning his ability to play in the shorter format.
Ricky Ponting, unlike Dhoni's critics, has come out in support of the former RPS captain stating that this is just the downside of having an illustrious career.
"I think it's a downside of having great success that he's had over a long period of time. I've been there myself and when you start to slide just a little bit, criticism is going to come your way. And to be fair, he probably hasn't had much negativity come his way over the past 15 or 20 years. So it'll be really interesting to see how he handles that over the coming weeks ", Ponting told cricket.com.au.
He further cautioned against writing off champion players citing the examples of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, "Things can turn around in this game pretty quickly and one thing I've learned in this game with champions player is to never write them off. They always find a way to keep coming back. It happened with (Glenn) McGrath and (Shane) Warne and all those great players that I was lucky enough to play with. He'll find a way and he'll win games for his team. "
Ponting stated that Dhoni was commendable when he took up the captaincy and performed phenomenally well under immense pressure. The former Aussie captain noted that the former RPS captain might not be at the apex of his game at the moment but still he is lending his services as a player on the team.
"I'm pretty sure he's got quite a thick skin. He's grown up with unbelievable pressure as captain of India for a ling time. He's had some great moments in his career and right now he's probably not playing at his absolute best, but it's still there. I'm not ever going to tell when it's time to go or retire. That's up to the champion to make their own mind up. ", Ponting stated.
This IPL edition started with the shocking news of Dhoni being sacked from the RPS captaincy and Ponting, a touch controversially, stated that this could be be Dhoni's last IPL season.
"If you think Dhoni and his age, this might as well be his last IPL. There's no basis to me saying that. It just seemed like a strange time to move him on as captain if he wasn't coming towards the end. Obviously, they've made a decision that they think is right for that team and Steve Smith taking over was what hierarchy and the coaching staff thought was the right thing to do ", the 42-year old said.
The veteran Aussie ended by saying that Dhoni's experience will play a pivotal role in defending the Champions Trophy title against the 7 other teams in the tournament.
"I think he can be an important player in that Indian team, especially with his experience. Batting in the middle order, he's someone who can really control