Sachin Tendulkar backs Mahendra Singh Dhoni, says let him decide on retirement

Pic Courtesy: Reuters

Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has come out in support of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has been under fire over his recent performance in the limited overs format of the game and backed the wicketkeeper-batsman to decide the time of his retirement.

Tendulkar told Mumbai Mirror that while Dhoni has been facing a barrage of criticism of late for his poor batting but the player from Jharkhand knows his game the best.

“The player only has to take the call. A player of his calibre, who has been around for a long time, knows what is expected of him. And where he stands. So, I will leave the decision to him,” Tendulkar said about Dhoni.

Tendulkar played under Dhoni's captaincy when the latter led Team India to the ODI World Cup win in 2011, 28 years after the 1983 Prudential World Cup victory. The master blaster, who holds more batting records than anyone else in international cricket, said, "He has played enough cricket and he understands his game better than anyone else. He understands his own mindset too. So, I think one should leave everything to him. Being a colleague of him, I know of him and I think he is the best person to decide on his career.”

There were a lot of speculations about Dhoni planning to call it quits after a video of him taking the match ball from the umpires after India lost the third ODI against England at Headingley, Leeds went viral. Even former India greats like Sunil Gavaskar and Sourav Ganguly have been critical of Dhoni's game in recent times.

However, India coach Ravi Shastri quashed all rumours of Dhoni retiring. "MS wanted to show the ball to Bharat Arun. He wanted to show him the wear and tear the ball had endured, to get a general idea of what the conditions were like. That's rubbish. MS is not going anywhere," Shastri told The Times of India.