It's necessary to take practical decisions than being emotional, says Gautam Gambhir on MS Dhoni's future

It's necessary to take practical decisions than being emotional, says Gautam Gambhir on MS Dhoni's future

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Former Indian batsman Gautam Gambhir has stated that the selectors will need to take a practical decision rather than an emotional one, when it comes to the future of MS Dhoni. Gambhir batted for the inclusion of youngsters, while also insisting that they needed to be given time to succeed.

In what seems to be a never-ending saga, the future of MS Dhoni with the Indian team looks to be the one puzzle for which no one has been able to come up with a solution. While a certain set of fans and ex-cricketers have called for his retirement, the other set are adamant that he still has plenty to offer for the Indian, while also citing his past achievements for the country.

Gautam Gambhir is the latest ex-cricketer to join the party, and the former opener has voiced his opinion about the future of Dhoni with the team. Gambhir has stated that it's important for the selectors to look into the future before making decisions, and recalled a time back in 2011 when Dhoni himself told the senior players that youngsters had to be brought into the team due to dimensions of the grounds in Australia. 

"It's important to look into the future. And when Dhoni was the skipper, he invested in the future. I remember Dhoni saying in Australia that me, Sachin and Sehwag can't play the CB series together as the grounds were big," Gambhir told TV9 Bharatvarsh, as reported by Hindustan Times.

Gambhir also urged the selectors to put emotions aside while taking important decisions, and pointed at the importance of taking practical decisions. He also said that the selectors would need to identify the one wicket-keeper they think would succeed, giving ample chances to succeed, before moving on to the other group of players who were knocking on the door.

"It's necessary to take practical decisions than being emotional. And it's time to groom the youngsters. Be it Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan or any other wicketkeeper, whoever is believed to have the potential should be made the wicket-keeper," he said.

"Give him chances for one and half-years and if he doesn't perform, then others should be tried out as well. Then one would get to know who the keeper for the next World Cup is," he added.

While praising Dhoni his for his immensely successful stint as captain, Gambhir also hailed the other captains - Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly, Virat Kohli and Rahul Dravid - saying they also played their part in India's success in the 21st century. 

Gambhir also criticised the general "go-to" mantra of the public, which hails a captain if his team succeeds while at the same time putting him down completely if the team fails.

"If you see the statistics, then he (Dhoni) is the best captain. But that doesn't mean that other captains have done badly. Sourav Ganguly has done good captaincy; we have won outside under him. Under Virat Kohli's captaincy, we have won ODI series in South Africa and Test series in Australia," Gambhir said.

"It is true that MS Dhoni has won us two World Cups (2007 and 2011) but it is not fair to give all credit to the captain for success and criticise only him when it doesn't go your way.

"Dhoni has won the Champions Trophy and World Cups but other captains have also taken India forward. Captains like Anil Kumble have done the job though not for long; Rahul Dravid also led India to win in England," he concluded. 

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