Should MS Dhoni be part of India’s training camp? Former cricketers weigh in

The likes of MSK Prasad, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh and Deep Dasgupta are divided over the participation of India’s most successful captain in India’s training camp, keeping his and the future of Indian cricket in mind.

With rumours rife that the BCCI is set to organise a six-week-long camp for India’s top cricketers next month, a question that arises in the mind is whether MS Dhoni be a part of it? As per reports, the BCCI is planning on setting up the camp sometime in July, for which it is yet to decide a set timeframe and a venue. However, if the board is not able to do so, it is believed the players will head towards their respective IPL camps whenever they are held this year.

MS Dhoni has not played for India since the team’s exit at last year’s World Cup. (AFP Image)

With speculations over Dhoni’s future doing the rounds, ex-cricketers weighed in on whether the former India captain should be part of the camp. Dhoni has not played since India’s World Cup exit last July and was dropped from BCCI’s list of central contracts. The likes of MSK Prasad, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh and Deep Dasgupta are divided over the participation of India’s most successful captain, keeping his and the future of Indian cricket in mind.

Former India wicketkeeper and chairman of selectors MSK Prasad feels that the only way Dhoni can be in contention is if the T20 World Cup goes ahead as planned later this year. Outside of the World Cup, in terms of bilateral series, Prasad, who last October had stated that the Indian team has moved on from Dhoni, is not optimistic of selectors willing to invest further in the former India captain.

“I don’t know whether T20 World Cup is happening or not. If it is happening and you are just looking at the camp as a pre-cursor to the tournament, then MS should definitely be there. If it’s a case of bilaterals, then you already have KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson,” Prasad told PTI.

Former India left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra, who has been pretty vocal regarding his former captain, has shown confident in Dhoni’s abilities, and feels if the wicketkeeper batsman expresses his desire to play, he should be in the team whatsoever. Nehra reckoned that If the IPL somehow takes place this year, it would be the ideal platform for Dhoni to get back into the scheme of things.

“If I was a national selector, MS Dhoni will be in my team but the bigger question is that whether he wants to play or not. It’s what Dhoni wants at the end of the day,” Nehra said.

However, offspinner Harbhajan Singh has a different stance to it. Harbhajan, who last month had apprehensions about Dhoni wanting to play for India anymore, has backed his statements and instead wants the team to look into the future and invest in youngsters instead.

“I would like to see Suryakumar Yadav, the young U-19 leg-spinner (Ravi Bishnoi) and Yashasvi Jaiswal in that camp. They should get a chance to interact with the senior players. No one deserves it more than Surya, who should be in that T20 team,” Harbhajan said.

Deep Dasgupta, the former India wicketkeeper batsman feels it is time that the selectors had a word with Dhoni regarding his future and whether he fits in India’s plans going ahead. “I mean if Dhoni is a part of that camp, it will be six weeks with the next batch of keepers who can pick his brains. Yes, if he is not a part of that camp, I would still not rule him out if he has a good IPL. Say he bats at No 4 for CSK and gets 500 runs, can you ignore him then?” questioned Dasgupta.

(-With PTI Inputs)