Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, on Wednesday, said MS Dhoni is a “champion ODI player” but doubted if he is still that good in the shortest format. “I am not too sure if Dhoni is a good T20 player. He is a champion ODI player but when it comes to T20 cricket, in 10 years, he has got one fifty and that’s not the best record,” Ganguly was quoted as saying by PTI.
Ganguly’s comments came on the back Dhoni’s lean patch in the shortest format of the game. The Ranchi dasher, who has been relived of captaincy duties by Rising Pune Supergiant, is playing for the first time as a player in the Indian Premier League, hasn’t performed as per the expectations in the ongoing IPL.
Ganguly, however, said Dhoni is too good an ODI player to be ignored from India’s Champions Trophy squad, “I will pick Dhoni for the Champions Trophy but he has to score runs,” Ganguly said. Former Australia captain Michael Clarke opined it is high time for Dhoni to explode with the bat, “Dhoni has to score runs for himself. As a professional, he has to,” Clarke said.
With scores of 12 not out, 5 and 11 in the three games he has played so far for the RPS, the 35-year-old, regarded as India’s most successful skipper across all formats, has failed to live up to the expectations.