MS Dhoni an assurance in World Cup 2019

After the Indian cricket team selection committee has recently dropped Dhoni for the T20I series against West Indies at home and against Australia away. There has been intense discussion about MS Dhoni’s future

The veteran cricketer’s fading control with the bat has raised serious apprehensions about his ability with the countdown for ICC 2019 Cricket World Cup already begun.

However, Sunil Gavaskar feels that MS Dhoni is exceptional the way he gives his valuable inputs from behind the stumps for the Men in Blue. We know him for his skill of organising clever field placements and offering.

The former India captain said during the post-match analysis show, "Virat Kohli needs Dhoni. There's no doubt about it. In 50 overs where there is that much more time, that's when MSD comes into play. You know he makes those small field adjustments, talking to the bowlers in Hindi – telling them where to bowl and what to bowl. It's a huge plus for Virat,"

Though India skipper Kohli might rely on other experienced players when needed, Gavaskar believes Dhoni’s presence will be essential for the event in England.

"MSD is an absolute must for the 2019 World Cup. But having said that, I believe, the way Rohit Sharma has come to the party as a captain, as a thinker, as a planner. He has been brilliant. With Rohit coming in and also Ajinkya Rahane, Virat has a couple more shoulders to lean on. Therefore, I think this [is a] move to have MS Dhoni take a break from T20I cricket," he further added.

The 2019 World Cup squad may end up as follows (subject to no injuries or sudden dips in form)

Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, , Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant/Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja/Khaleel Ahmed, KL Rahul/ Manish Pandey, Umesh Yadav/ Mohammed Shami