I don’t really see anyone stepping into MS Dhoni & Yuvraj Singh's shoes so easily: MSK Prasad

The former chairman of the Indian Cricket Team selection committee, MSK Prasad took part in an interview after he was officially replaced as the head of the selection panel by Sunil Joshi. Prasad reflected on the performances of the Indian team during his time as the chief selector. He spoke about two of the team’s legendary players, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni.

The Punjabi all-rounder, Yuvraj had been an integral part of the team in the 2011 World Cup however, he was just a shadow of his former self when he returned after defeating cancer. In the same way, MS Dhoni was the world’s best finisher when Prasad took office however, as time passed, there was a decline in his performances. Since the two players lost their places in the national team during Prasad’s tenure as national selector, the former Indian wicketkeeper wished to clarify his opinion on the two players.

MSD & Yuvraj are legends of Indian cricket: MSK Prasad

Speaking to TOI, MSK Prasad disclosed how tough it was to find a replacement for Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni in the Indian team. Heaping praise on the two legends, Prasad said, “MSD & Yuvraj are legends of Indian cricket and I don’t really see anyone stepping into those shoes so easily. It is tough to deal with it. Our fundamental job is to identify fresh talent, groom him and induct him when the need arises and that is what we have done.”

It is noteworthy that the team tried a lot of all-rounders like Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Vijay Shankar and Washington Sundar to fill in the shoes of Yuvraj however, barring Hardik, none of them could cement their place in the team. Prasad even talked about the decision of dropping Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin from the Indian limited-overs team. He mentioned that it was the toughest decision of his time as the chief selector.

He continued, “Dropping Ashwin and Jadeja from white-ball cricket or preparing a successor for MS Dhoni— both were challenging as we are talking about legends who have been instrumental in taking Indian cricket to great heights.”

The team management had introduced the duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal as the replacements of Ashwin and Jadeja. However, currently, Jadeja is a regular fixture in the ODI team while the backroom staff prefers to have only one leg-spinner in the team.