MS Dhoni’s Classy Reply to His Critics

MS Dhoni had been criticised by VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag and Ajit Agarkar for his performance in NZ T20 series.

MS Dhoni spoke to the media on the sidelines of the launch of his cricke academy in Goa.

(Photo: PR)

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 Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman and Ajit Agarkar recently raised questions about Dhoni's place in the Indian T20 team, creating quite a storm in the country's cricketing circles.

However, the World Cup winning captain seemed pretty unaffected by all that surrounds him, as always.

Everybody has views in life and it should be respected.

MS Dhoni

Dhoni, who won the 2007 World T20 as captain with a young Indian team and then 2011 ODI World Cup at home, struggled to get going in the recent T20 series against New Zealand in Rajkot, for which he was criticised by his former contemporaries.

The 36-year-old, though, said that did not affect how motivated he is to wear the Indian jersey.

It is representing the country which is the best motivation for me because we play cricket for only a span of time. You can play for one year to 15 years, some play 20 years, but in the life span, let’s say you live for 70 years, 10 to 15 years is nothing and that’s the only time you can proudly say that I’m representing my country. The biggest motivation is being part of the Indian cricket team.

MS Dhoni

Dhoni made the statement while speaking to the media in Dubai on the sidelines of the launch of his global cricket academy. He however was the not first one to make a statement on the matter, Indian skipper Virat Kohli had earlier lashed out at the former cricketers for singling out only Dhoni for criticism, based on his age.

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.”

MS Dhoni

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.

MS Dhoni

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.