Dhoni's future should not be decided by his past, says Sanjay Manjrekar

Before the limited-overs series commenced, the selectors made it clear that if MS Dhoni’s form continued to deteriorate or if he didn’t return to his usual self, they would start looking for other options for his spot. However, after Dhoni’s performance yesterday, the selectors would have to put in some thought about what they would do if it hadn’t been Dhoni on the other end with Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Bhuvneshwar, no doubt is capable of providing help with the bat, but he himself admitted that having someone as cool headed, calm and experienced as Dhoni, on the other end made it possible for him to play his best hand in limited-overs cricket and end up with a match-winning 100-run 8th wicket partnership. The 2nd ODI at Pallekele ended with the visitors winning with 3 wickets, taking a 2-0 lead in the ODI series, and while the world stood at their feet to applaud the gutsy knock of Bhuvi and Dhoni, one very interesting comment was made by a usual feature in the commentary box.

Sanjay Manjrekar took to Twitter in order to state his opinion about Dhoni’s place in the team, now as well as in the future, saying, “Dhoni’s future should not be decided by his past. If he is the best keeper batsman in the country, he deserves to be in the team.”

We may not agree with Manjrekar most times, but this time he is making sense. Dhoni’s past is glorious and one to remember, however, that can’t be the deciding factor for the selectors to guarantee the former captain a place in the team.

The tweet:

Dhoni's future should not be decided by his past. If he is the best keeper batsman in the country he deserves to be in the team.

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) August 24, 2017

MSD deserves to be in the team, firstly, because he has the safest pair of hands behind the stump. He is only 1 stumping short of becoming the only person to have 100 stumpings in International cricket- quick hands, lightning fast almost. And secondly, even though he has had difficulty doing so lately, he is the only experienced wicketkeeper that can bat according to the situation.

He can play a slow and steady knock like he did yesterday, or he can play a cameo close to blitzkrieg. That, easily makes him the best wicketkeeper-batsman in India right now, and that is the main eligibility. His experience and success as captain, his cool demeanour and his agility are the bonus.