Krunal Pandya says he wants to learn from MS Dhoni; praises the under fire cricketer

MS Dhoni has been under severe criticism ever since the Australia series that was played before the IPL 2019 for his inability to hit the big shots in the death overs and finishing the matches. He was also under fire during the whole ICC World Cup 2019 as Dhoni struggled to make runs in chases on his own.

He did play a brilliant inning in the semi-finals against New Zealand, but it was obvious he was dependent on Jadeja to hit the big shots, as he was content with taking singles and doubles. This was also seen in the England tie, as India made only 70 odd runs needing 107 to win in the last 10 overs, as Dhoni and Jadhav never went after the bowling to achieve the target. He was expected to retire at the end of the tournament but has instead taken two months off from cricket.

Youngsters look up to MS Dhoni

However, it seems that newcomers still want MS Dhoni to continue playing for some more time. One of them is Krunal Pandya, who was chosen in the Indian team for the T20I series in the West Indies. Pandya will be one of the three spinners in the squad along with Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar.

“There is no big finisher in Indian and world cricket than Mahi bhai (Dhoni). He has been doing this day in and day out,” Pandya was quoted as saying by BCCI.tv. So far, Pandya has played 11 T20I matches for India scoring 70 runs and picking 11 wickets at an economy rate of over 8. He is eager to play with MS Dhoni in coming future where the selectors have focussed on the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia.

And he hopes that with Dhoni’s guidance, he might be able to cement his spot in the Indian team. “His patience and the way he reads the situation are the qualities which I would like to learn from him,” Krunal further added, as he prepares to battle the Windies from August 3 in Florida USA.

India will play the first two T20I matches in the USA and then will travel to the Caribbean for the remaining T20I; with 3 ODIs and 2 Test matches will that will follow in the full tour.