India vs Windies | MS Dhoni continues to be integral part of ODI team, asserts Virat Kohli

11/02/2018

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Virat Kohli has stated that Mahendra Singh Dhoni is still an integral part of the Indian ODI team in spite of being dropped from the T20 internationals to be played against Windies and Australia. He further mentioned that Dhoni himself decided to make way for young Rishabh Pant in the T20I squad.

There has been a lot of discussions going on in the Indian circuit ever since the national selectors decided to drop former skipper MS Dhoni for the upcoming T20I series against the Windies in India and against Australia in the tour Down Under. Indian captain Virat Kohli was asked about the same during the post-match press conference after the ODI series win against the Windies side on Thursday. Kohli is of the opinion that the veteran wicket-keeper in still an integral part of the ODI set up and he himself wanted to make way for Pant so that the Delhi keeper could get more chances to groom in international cricket.

"I think the selectors have already addressed this if I'm not wrong. And he's been spoken to, firstly... So, I don't see any reason why I should be sitting here and explaining that. I think the selectors have come out and explained exactly what happened," said Kohli at the post-match press conference, reported PTI.

"I was not part of that conversation so... It is what the selectors explained. I think people are putting too much variables into the situation, which is not the case I can assure you of that. He's still a very integral part of this team and he just feels that in the T20 format, someone like Rishabh can get more chances. He anyway plays the ODIs for us regularly, so... From that point of view, he's only trying to help the youngsters; nothing that anything that other people are thinking and I as captain can certainly assure you of that,"

Talking about the recent ODI series win against the Windies, the Indian skipper praised left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed and middle-order batsman Ambati Rayudu. Khaleel’s inclusion has helped the team management to find a seamer who could back-up Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah.

"Those two things is something that we were looking for a while; someone to back-up Bhuvi and Bumrah - someone to pick up wickets and bowl in good areas. Having a left-arm seamer gives you variation in the attack. Khaleel was really good and Rayudu of course grabbing his opportunities, batting with maturity, batting with composure. It is always good to plug in the areas that you are looking at," he added.

"If we can be consistent as a fielding side, it can give us more consistency overall in our skills department as well. In the field, we can still improve a lot. We have spoken to the people in the practice sessions who need to do the extra effort to sharpen their fielding, and they are putting in that extra effort That is the only area we feel we can get better at. Obviously, batting and bowling are big variables. Fielding is something that is controllable and you need to get that from all the 11 players in the field."

Speaking about Ravindra Jadeja’s return in the Indian limited-overs side, Kohli said, “It depends. When Hardik (Pandya) is fit and fine to play, you have to see what is the combination you have to take in the World Cup. If Hardik is fit, Kedar becomes a spin option as well. Hardik becoming fit also gives you four seaming options, along with Kedar and one more spinner. You might need one more spin option. Jadeja becomes the key there with the team balance.”

"In the Test matches as well, I think he batted and bowled very well. I get a sense that he understands his game much better. He has obviously gone back and worked quite a bit, especially in white ball to come back and perform like this. He has been smart about what he wants to do with the field.”

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