Atul Wassan credits MS Dhoni for Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav’s performance

02/16/2018

Atul Wassan has praised MS Dhoni’s brilliance behind the stumps adding the latter should be credited for Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav’s series-winning performance in South Africa. He has also asked Dhoni’s critics to factor in the intangibles when the former Indian skipper fails to score runs.

The Indian wrist-spinning duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have proved their worth in the ongoing six-match limited-overs series against South Africa by claiming an incredible 30 wickets. Currently, Kuldeep leads the wicket-takers chart with 16 wickets while Chahal has the second spot with 14 wickets. Former Indian cricketer Wassan believes that without Dhoni’s support and guidance behind the wicket the bowlers may have failed to deliver terrific performances.

“I think half of the wickets should go to Dhoni. He is just amazing behind the stumps. Before every ball was bowled, he knows what a batsman going to do. These guys should bow down and touch his feet. These guys not experienced and Dhoni was doing the homework for them. Dhoni should be credited for this,” Wassan told NDTV.

“I heard Dhoni saying ‘Ye ab idharniklega. Ye abb idharmarega’. [He will get out of crease now. He will hit it here]. And the same thing was happening. Chahal and Kuldeep were following Dhoni’s instructions and those were working for India.”

From the recent past, Dhoni’s performance remained under scrutiny and people started questioning his place in the squad so that another player can get a chance in the team. In the ongoing series against the Proteas, the former Indian skipper scored 69 runs in four innings. He played a 42-run knock off 43 deliveries in the fourth ODI in Johannesburg. But when he came to the middle, the team needed a quick innings from him but he failed to do so and the critics started targeting him yet again.

“If people can criticise Dhoni for not getting runs, they should probably look at this factor also,” Wassan explained.