Indian cap is Dhoni’s motivation

Dubai: Mahendra Singh Dhoni's voice had the usual air of calm as he played down criticism and calls for his retirement from T20 Internationals, saying "everybody has their own views in life".

A few former India cricketers, including Ajit Agarkar, recently raised questions about Dhoni's T20 future, creating quite a storm in the country's cricketing circles. Even former batsman VVS Laxman seemed to be on the same page as Agarkar on Dhoni's T20 career.

However, the two-time World Cup winning captain, as is his wont, seemed unperturbed. "Everybody has views in life and it should be respected," Dhoni said when he was asked to comment on Agarkar's remarks.

Dhoni, who won the 2007 inaugural World T20 as captain with a young India team and the 2011 ODI World Cup, struggled to get going as India lost by 40 runs in the second T20I against New Zealand in Rajkot.

The 36 year old, though, still finds enough motivation wearing the India colours. "The biggest motivation is being a part of the Indian cricket team. You have seen cricketers who are not god gifted, but even then, they have gone far. That's because of the passion.

The coaches need to find that out. Everybody doesn't play for the country." Dhoni was in Dubai to launch his global cricket academy, inaugurating the M S Dhoni Cricket Academy -- his first international academy, in association with Dubai- based Pacific Ventures

"I have always believed that process is more important than results. I never thought about results, I always thought what is the right thing to do at that point of time whether it's 10 runs needed, 14 runs needed or 5 runs needed.

"I was always so engrossed in the process that I never took the burden of thinking what if the result don't go my way." Asked to talk about his trademark helicopter shot in front of the excited kids and their parents, Dhoni said that he would not want a youngster to try such shots due to the chance of getting injured.

"(It is) something I learnt while playing tennis ball cricket on the roads of India. It is difficult. In tennis ball cricket even it's hit from the toe of the bat the ball still travels a lot but in normal cricket it has to be the middle part of the bat, so it requires a lot of work.

I don't want them to play helicopter shots because they could get injured." Dhoni retired from Test cricket during India's tour of Australia in 2014/15 before stepping down as skipper of the limited overs side in 2016, allowing Virat Kohli to take on the mantle of Indian captaincy in all three formats of the game.

Dada’s T20 advice
Meanwhile, in Kolkata, former captain Sourav Ganguly advised the under-fire World Cup winning skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to approach the Twenty20 Internationals "differently".

"His record in T20I is not that good compared to ODIs. Hope Kohli and team management will speak to him separately. He has immense ability. If he approaches T20Is differently, then he will be successful," said Ganguly.

Ganguly however feels Dhoni has a lot of cricket left in him, especially in the One-dayers. "Definitely not for One-dayers. I think he should keep playing One-day cricket, but he has to play differently in T20Is. He has to play T20Is freely. It depends on the selectors and how they would like to play him," Ganguly said here on the sidelines of a TV shoot.

Ganguly expressed surprise at India opting to rest all- rounder Hardik Pandya for the upcoming Test series. "I'm surprised. I don't know if he's injured. He has played only three Tests... This is the age to play. I don't know the exact reason. Hope he's fit.

"India won't play with three spinners, definitely not at the Eden Gardens as the pitch here is different. They will play with two spinners and now since they don't have Hardik Pandya they may have a different combination for the all- rounders slot." Ganguly hoped Sri Lanka would give India fight after their confidence-boosting 2-0 win over Pakistan in the Test series last month.