MSK Prasad, India's chairman of selectors, ended all speculations about Mahendra Singh Dhoni's place in the limited-overs side. Prasad, on Saturday (December 23), acknowledged Dhoni will be the preferred wicketkeeper in the 2019 World Cup and only after that the other wicketkeepers in the country will be given opportunities.
Several questions have asked been about Dhoni's place in the One-Day International and the Twenty20 International squads considering his hitting prowess has declined over the years. While he has been able to prove his detractors wrong with timely knocks in the 50-over format, he has been subjected to additional scrutiny in T20s. His inability to tee off from the get-go has meant a lot of questions have been raised about why several other young wicketkeepers aren't being given chances.
"We are grooming some wicketkeepers in the India A tours. We have fixed our minds till the World Cup and in the latter stages after that will try and bring in those young guys," Prasad said, soon after announcing India's ODI squad for the six-match series in South Africa. "Let me tell you frankly that those boys are still not up to the mark where we would have liked them to be. We will keep giving them chances in the India A tours and make sure they are nurtured properly," he added.
Dhoni, in the last few months, has played some crucial knocks in ODIs to rescue the team from tough situations and help them across the line. After his two half-centuries in the Caribbean, he scored 45 not out, 67 not out and 49 not out in Sri Lanka to help the team complete a 5-0 series sweep. He then followed it up with a 79 against Australia in Chennai to lift the side from a tough position before making a fighting 65 in the Dharamsala ODI against Sri Lanka where the team folded for just 112.
More than his batting, Dhoni's unmatched skills behind the stumps is what's making the selectors stick with him. The hand speed behind the wicket, the reflexes and his ability to read the game means he's become an invaluable asset in the side. Prasad, who reflected in these skills, went on to say Dhoni is the best wicketkeeper in the world at the moment. "MS Dhoni still remains the number one wicketkeeper in the world. The stumpings that he does, the catches that he takes, it's just phenomenal. There's no comparison. I don't see any other wicketkeeper even close to him in world cricket, forget about Indian cricket," he pointed out.
On several occasions, different members of the team have thrown their support behind Dhoni, including skipper Virat Kohli. "We are conveniently targeting only one man which is not fair. We also have to look at the fact that by the time he comes in, either the run rate is already eight-and-a-half or nine-and-a-half and the wicket is also not the same when the new ball is bowled," Kohli had said during the limited-overs series against New Zealand.
"Also, the batsmen who are set from the top, they find it easier to strike the ball straightaway compared to the guys who come lower down the order. And the kind of wicket that we have played on, the wear and tear has been much more in the latter half. You have to assess everything. As team management and players, we understand the situations in which he goes out to bat. We don't get emotional and excited by the opinions of people who are looking at things from a different point of view. If you are playing, you know how the wicket is and what the situation is like. So, I think Dhoni is doing absolutely fine. He understands his game, he understands his role, but it doesn't come off every time.
"He hit a six in Delhi and it was shown five times in the post-match show. Everyone got really happy. And suddenly he doesn't score in one game and we are after his life. I think people need to be a bit more patient. He's a guy who understands various cricketers. He's a very smart guy. He understands where he stands with his body, with his game. So I don't think anyone else has the right to decide that for him," Kohli had said.