‘Nobody comes close to him’ - Ashish Nehra defends MS Dhoni after T20 exclusion

Ashish Nehra believes that he is still an integral part of the team and he said that MS Dhoni is of great help to Virat Kohli and he will perform well in Australia.

MS Dhoni has been the topic of a lot of discussion after the veteran wicketkeeper batsman was rested for India’s upcoming T20 series against West Indies and Australia. While a lot of criticism has come his way due to the disappointing form he is currently in, former teammate Ashish Nehra believes that he is still an integral part of the team and he said that Dhoni is of great help to Virat Kohli and he will perform well in Australia.

MS Dhoni plays a shot during the 4th ODI cricket match against West Indies at Brabourne Stadium, in Mumbai. (PTI)

“Yes, there is Rishabh Pant, there is Dinesh Karthik, who has done reasonably well, but MS Dhoni is MS Dhoni. Nobody comes close to him, not only as a cricketer but the kind of aura he has it is a great help to somebody (Yuzvendra) Chahal, to Kuldeep (Yadav) Jasprit Bumrah and most importantly to Virat Kohli. MS Dhoni knows what he is doing. Although he wasn’t that good in Asia Cup and this series what he would have liked to have but still he has two months. I am sure that he will do well in Australia, so we shouldn’t worry about MS Dhoni,” he told Cricketnext.

While Dhoni is widely regarded as arguably the best wicket-keeper batsman to play for India ever, his form in 2018 has been abysmal to say the least. With 252 runs from 18 matches, MS Dhoni is averaging 25.20 in 2018 in ODIs – his worst year in terms of batting average. It is the only the second time when his average has come below 40.00, other one was 2016.

As a result, it comes as no surprise that Dhoni has not scored a single half century till now and he has the worst strike rate among wicket-keepers in international cricket for 2018. His West Indies -counterpart - Shai Hope - is the other one with strike rate under 70.

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Dhoni, who is well known for his aggressive batting, has also struggled to score runs at a fast pace this year. In the 12 innings he has played in 2018, the former Indian skipper has scored runs with a strike rate of 68.10 – worst in his career. It is quite a shocking statistic for Dhoni considering the fact that his strike rate has never come below 78.00 in his ODI career.

When it comes to boundaries, he has taken 19.47 balls to hit a boundary this year – his worst balls/boundary rate in the career and he has scored just two sixes in 2018 in ODIs

Sachin Tendulkar also weighted in on the topic and said that he has no idea what the selectors’ mindset was when they decided to exclude Dhoni.

Speaking to ANI, Tendulkar said, “I don’t know honestly, what the mindset of the selectors is. At no stage, I looked to influence anyone by giving opinions because what happens in the dressing room and between captain, coach, and selectors should stay just within them.”