MS Dhoni will play in Australia as per ground conditions, feels Sunil Gavaskar

For former India captain MS Dhoni, 2019 could be a special year. And the legendary cricketer would spare no effort to make it more memorable by scoring some much-needed runs and quickly too. The 37-year-old though has remained as electric with the glovework, he hasn’t been the vintage force with the bat, inviting wrath from the fans often. Dhoni did not score a single fifty in 2018 even though he crossed 10,000 ODI runs the same year and ahead of what will be his final World Cup, the Ranchi batsman will be keen to make his willow talk.

He was picked for India’s T20I side too after being ignored for two series against the Windies and Australia and he got the nod ahead of the in-form Rishabh Pant for the ODIs in New Zealand, the former captain would consider himself lucky and make the most of the opportunity he has got in the new year. India have 16 ODIs to play ahead of the WC (eight against Australia, five against New Zealand and three against Zimbabwe) and Dhoni will be looking to eclipse his poor record of 2018 when he managed just 275 runs in 20 games.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar is confident that Dhoni will play a key role for India in the series owing to his tactical insights and truck-load of experience. He said the wicketkeeper-batsman will not throw around his bat and rather play keeping in mind the ground conditions in Australia.

May not see Dhoni hitting big shots in Australia

“We may not see the MS Dhoni who hits the big sixes on Indian grounds or English grounds because the Australian grounds are big. But he is so good with his fitness that he will be able to convert the ones into twos and twos into threes on large-sized Australian grounds,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying by India Today.

“I believe Dhoni will be able to make the most of these Australian conditions where the pitches flatten out after the new ball.”

The absence of Hardik Pandya who was handed a suspension over a television controversy would add to Dhoni’s responsibility down the order and Gavaskar feels spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who has a fair batting capacity, will be able to fill the void if he gets to play.

India will play three ODIs against Australia in Sydney (January 12), Brisbane (Jan 15) and Melbourne (Jan 18).

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