Why ‘cult’ of Dhoni is making Indian cricket a ‘loser’
2016-17*
MUMBAI: This is a different age and I would have hoped that we had evolved from the Kapil (Dev) and (Sachin) Tendulkar days. SANJAY MANJREKAR, On MS Dhoni
Sanjay Manjrekar, former India batsman turned commentator, says the ‘cult’ of MS Dhoni is coming in way of ‘clarity’ and ‘honest discussion’ in team selection, adding that in such a scenario Indian cricket stands to ‘lose’ out.
The topic of Dhoni’s future has been doing rounds since the T20I series against New Zealand, when he failed to win a game for India despite scoring a 37-ball 49 in the second match at Rajkot.
Manjrekar wrote in ESPNCricinfo, “We are not quite there yet, but like it was with Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar, the cult of Mahendra Singh Dhoni seems to be coming in the way of clarity and honest discussion of team selection. It’s in our DNA in India, isn’t it?”
“All this fanfare and worship is perhaps all right from a distance, but when they start influencing cricketing decisions, especially selection, it becomes a matter of concern,” wrote Manjrekar, citing examples of how the legendary cricketers like Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar struggled too in their final days as India cricketers but no one could talk about dropping them.
“Indian cricket is the loser when such things happen. This is a different age and I would have hoped that we had evolved from the Kapil and Tendulkar days,” Manjrekar opined.
Also citing how well Australia handles its champion cricketers, Manjrekar said reputation of a player should never ‘be a factor in selection’.