This straight talk by Viru will give more than one reason for Mahi fans to cheer.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's dry spell with the bat has got plenty of tongues wagging. The legendary Indian cricketer has been a pale shadow of himself in this year's Indian Premier League (IPL), barely reaching double digit scores in Rising Pune Supergiant's (RPS) first four matches.
There have been many, including former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who have come down heavily on Dhoni over the past few days.
After his failure with the bat during his side's heavy defeat to Gujarat Lions on Friday, #DhoniDropped was trending on Twitter. Here are some of those tweets:
While the criticism has been strong, there has even been steady support for MSD from several quarters. RPS skipper Steve Smith and former Australian pacer Brett Lee were emphatic while backing the 35-year-old.
Fans, too, showed their faith in the keeper-batsman by making #WeStandByDhoni trend on Friday. Here are some of those tweets:
However, the biggest form of support for Dhoni has come from the most unlikely quarter. His former team-mate and India opener Virender Sehwag has laid to rest the entire debate around his lean patch. In an interview with ABP News, Sehwag explained that there was no reason to worry about Dhoni's form.
"The position at which he’s coming in to bat is very difficult. He is still the best at No. 5 or No. 6," said Viru. “There’s no doubt that he will be back in form sooner rather than later. There’s a lot of time left in the IPL. One should not judge a player of Dhoni’s stature just by the outcome of three-four games."
With the likes of Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson setting IPL 2017 ablaze, questions have also been raised about Dhoni's place in Team India for the up-coming Champions Trophy in England. Sehwag, though, rubbished any such claims.
“He recently scored a match winning hundred against England. So I don’t think he’s out of touch. You can’t even imagine an Indian side going to Champion’s Trophy without Dhoni. Things like this can happen in a tournament like IPL," said the Nawab of Najafgarh.
“IPL should not be a platform to judge an experience player like Dhoni. It’s fine if you judge a youngster on the basis of IPL as it is difficult for a newcomer to showcase his talent in front of a huge crowd."
Dhoni and Sehwag's allegedly acrimonious past is known by all. Hence, this straight talk by Viru will give more than one reason for Mahi fans to cheer.
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