Accord Dhoni the privilege to decide his future: Engineer

"Dhoni has done a very good job. He has served India very well, he has won us championships, won medals for us. But we shouldn’t be too keen to pack him off. He has already retired from Test cricket, it should be up to him to decide. I think we should offer him the privilege to decide about his future," Engineer said during a media interaction.

Published : Oct 27, 2015 00:23 IST , Kolkata

Farokh Engineer said that Indians shouldn’t be too keen to pack MS Dhoni off.
Farokh Engineer said that Indians shouldn’t be too keen to pack MS Dhoni off.
lightbox-info

Farokh Engineer said that Indians shouldn’t be too keen to pack MS Dhoni off.

Even as he insisted that Virat Kohli deserves to take over the captaincy in all the formats of the game, former India great Farokh Engineer on Monday called for giving limited overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni the opportunity to decide about his future.

“Dhoni has done a very good job. He has served India very well, he has won us championships, won medals for us. But we shouldn’t be too keen to pack him off. He has already retired from Test cricket, it should be up to him to decide. I think we should offer him the privilege to decide about his future,” Engineer said during a media interaction here.

“I like him (Dhoni), he reminds me of my young days. Every cricketer thinks you got to go when people ask why and not why not. So let him decide about his future,” said the flamboyant former wicketkeeper—batsman.

Heaping praise on Test skipper Kohli, the 77-year-old said that the young batsman should be given more time before taking up the captaincy in all the formats.

“Virat is a fantastic player and certainly deserves to be the captain but I think you got to give him some time. We need to persevere with whatever talent we have and I am sure they will bring glory to the country,” said Engineer, who played 46 Test matches for India.

Engineer also expressed his dismay over wicketkeepers being selected more for their batting ability.

“A wicketkeeper should be primarily a wicketkeeper. But nowadays batsmen who can catch the ball are selected as keepers, which is wrong. It is a specialist job,” he said.

Talking about the various aspects of cricket, Engineer described Test cricket as the pinnacle but also welcomed the shorter formats of the game.

“Test cricket is a like a game of chess throughout intriguing. It is the pinnacle of cricket. All other formats are welcome. Of course, limited over cricket especially Twenty20 cricket has been highly successful but nothing can match Test cricket,” added Engineer.

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment