Former coach undermines chief selector MSK Prasad's authority over MS Dhoni's future

Courtesy: Reuters

New Delhi: Former India skipper MS Dhoni has put all the speculations to rest with two consecutive gritty knocks against Sri Lanka under pressure situations.

In the second ODI of the 5-match series, India were tottering at 131/7, Dhoni put a 100-run stand with pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and sealed the chase without any fuss. 

The 36-year-old then backed this performance with a well-composed 86 balls 67 when India were 61-4 in the third ODI.

Following MS Dhoni's stellar show, his childhood coach Keshav Banerjee has slammed the chief selector MSK Prasad for his remarks on one of the greatest ODI players of all-time. 

After the limited-overs team selection, Prasad asserted that Dhoni is not the automatic choice and he will have to prove his worth to remain in the contention for the 2019 ICC World Cup.

"Every selector has their own way of team selection procedure but my question is that why he has made this public. As much as I know Dhoni, if he feels that it’s time to hang his boots, he will retire without saying a word. A few days back when he was talking to me, he said sir jab time ayega, chor denge. Kisike liye wait nahin karenge," Keshav Banerjee told xtratime.

Banerjee even went on to say that before commenting on someone of MS Dhoni's stature Prasad should look at his own credentials as a national cricketer.

"He doesn’t have the authority to say such things against MS Dhoni. Prasad should ask himself that in how many matches he was a part of Indian playing XI. I am a friend of Mahi since the childhood days, when nobody knew him. As far as I know him he will take his final call on retirement at the right time," Banerjee further added.

Keshav also pointed out that Dhoni retired from Tests on his own terms even though he had the chance of completing the 100 Tests milestone.

"I just want to ask a question that if Dhoni wanted to play 100 Test matches for India, he could do that, there was nobody who could have stopped him. He could still be the captain of the limited overs side but he didn’t. Dhoni always listens to his instinct. At the end of the day, he is a star performer and he always tries to give his best for the side. In the second ODI he gave Bhuvneshwar Kumar the chances to play all the shots freely, on the other hand, he just played the mentor’s role," the former coach concluded.