Former Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin feels MS Dhoni can play till 2019 WC

‘To Dhoni, or not to Dhoni, that is the question.’ Had William Shakespeare been alive today and had he been a perennial lover of cricket, he must have written this line. Following his recent string of poor performances, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has received criticism from every possible angle. While some were in favour of his retirement, others wanted the man from Ranchi to continue.

Now, the latter group have a major inclusion in the form of former Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin. The 54-year-old from Hyderabad feels that the skipper of two World Cup winning teams can participate in another World Cup, before calling it a career.

“I don’t know what is going through his (MS Dhoni) mind so I really don’t know. I think it should be left to him but as far as I can read it, I think he will probably go on and play the 2019 World Cup. It appears that way to me,” Azhar said while talking to Khaleej Times.

When Azhar was asked about the Indo-Pak bilateral series which is not happening at the moment because of lack of clearance from the Indian government, the owner of 9378 ODI runs said: “It is up to the governments of the two countries. It is not the players who decide. The two governments decide on that. Opinions of anybody, to be honest, doesn’t matter.

“We can say that this is my opinion but that opinion will not be taken into account because since it is at the diplomatic level. The higher ups of the two countries will decide. There are so many issues. Sport is one thing but at the end of the day, there are so many different issues, security and various other factors. So, everything put together, it is not very easy,” he added.

A hundred in the first, a hundred in the last, but yet he was out on 99

Azhar scored a hundred in the first Test match, against England in Kolkata, and also in his last Test match, against South Africa in Bengaluru. Yet, he missed the milestone of playing 100 Tests for his nation by the slightest of the margins possible.

On being asked about whether he has any regrets regarding it or not, he said, “I don’t regret it. I’m very happy that I played 99 Test matches and I was very happy to score a hundred in my first match and hundred in my last Test. So, I’m very happy and I don’t have any complaints or regrets. That was how my career was supposed to end. It is destiny. You have to carry on and accept it.”