'If you use your brain, you can play irrespective of your age' - Javed Miandad's suggestion to MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni, unsurprisingly, has been the talking point in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season. He announced his retirement from international cricket on August 15 and since then, all eyes were on him and his performances in the cash-rich league. However, it has been a disappointing journey for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and their skipper this year.

Not only the team is in the bottom half of the table, MS Dhoni also isn’t timing the ball well. There have been glimpses of the old himself at times, but largely, the veteran hasn’t been able to up the ante for CSK. Former Pakistan cricketer Javed Miandad has come up with a suggestion for Dhoni and has cited his own example for the same.

Miandad played for Pakistan well into his 40s and has stated that he used his brain in the latter part of his career. According to him, if a player does that, then he/she can play for whatever time he/she wants with age not being the hindrance. “I played cricket with my brain. If you use your brain, you can play irrespective of your age. Maybe, you won’t be the player you used to be, but you would still be pretty useful,” he told Indian Express.

Increase drills and batting time in nets, Miandad to MS Dhoni

Javed Miandad suggested MS Dhoni to increase his exercising drills and also felt that he should increase his batting time in the nets. Rather the former Pakistan skipper reckoned that the legendary India cricketer will be already doing that to come back into his groove.

“My suggestion to Dhoni will be to increase his exercise drills and batting time at the nets. If he is doing 20 sit-ups (for example), he can increase it to 30. If he doing five sprints, he can increase it to eight. If he is spending an hour at the nets for batting practice, he can increase it to two hours.

“It’s not necessary that you have to do it at a stretch. You can do it in parts. You can do it in three sessions – morning, afternoon and evening. Dhoni knows this and maybe, he is already doing that,” Miandad added.