New Zealand’s Head Coach Mike Hesson Believes MS Dhoni’s Career Is Over: India have been in red hot form lately and a 5-0 whitewash of New Zealand in their own den is a suggestion of how strong this Virat Kohli led side actually is. The Indian supporters went berserk with the Men in Blues’ dominant display against the Kiwis and some even call it the revenge of the World Cup semi-finals where Kane Williamson’s men knock India out of the tournament in July last year.
While there were rumors of MS Dhoni coming back to the Indian T20 squad and retired after taking part in the T20 World Cup later this year. However, the clouds have gone away now and with the Indian team performing with so much flamboyance and character away from home make things even worse for the World Cup-winning captain who will turn 39 this year. While some of his die-hard supporters are still hoping for a great Indian Premier League (IPL) season which may catapult his way to the national team but with the current scheme of things, chances are bleak for the man from Ranchi.
The former New Zeland national team head coach who was selected as the Director of Cricket for IPL outfit Royal Challengers Bangalore feels that the Men in Blue have moved on from MS Dhoni’s era and have some fantastic talent at display in their first eleven. While he feels that MS Dhoni is irreplaceable, Man of the series KL Rahul has shown great maturity with the willow and even with the gloves in this T20I series.
There was speculation on Dhoni’s self-imposed hiatus as the former captain last played in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand where Martin Guptill’s run out ended the road for him and India last July. Since then he has been on a break and it has been a long time since the experienced wicketkeeper-batsman has donned the national colors and with Rishabh Pant and now KL Rahul taking up the gloves, chances of a comeback are slim.
MS Dhoni was seen getting back to shape and doing some net session and people thought he will be back in the New-Zealand series in preparation for the big event at the end of the year. However now IPL seems the only route for the 38-yer old to book a ticket to the World Cup.
“It seems like India have moved on. And they have certainly had to put their plans in place for when that (Dhoni’s retirement) happens. I have heard in the press that a lot depends on the IPL in terms of how Dhoni operates. If he is in good touch then obviously he plays but looks like India have moved past MS Dhoni at this stage,” said Mike Hesson at the end of the T20I series where India demolished the Kiwis.
Mike Hesson also lauded the selectors for taking chances with Manish Pandey and Shivam Dube and feels that India’s experiment with those two has paid off really well.
