"MS Dhoni can be 80, in a wheelchair, and he would still play for my team" : AB de Villiers

[Abdullah719]

"MS Dhoni can be 80, in a wheelchair, and he would still play for my team" : AB de Villiers

There is no comparison, no replacement for MS Dhoni. Despite endless debates on replacement options, Dhoni will remain part of Indian blue, and more importantly for his lightning-fast and clever wicketkeeping skills and as a mentor to young talents. Although, his present form with the bat has raised questions a plenty. Should India replace Dhoni from playing XI? And former South African cricketer laughed it off, calling critics as 'funny'. He said that even if the veteran cricketer would have turned old and would be down in a wheelchair, he would still be part of his team 'every day of every year'.

Dhoni's form with the bat took the downward road during Champions Trophy 2017 in England with criticisms reaching its peak when India were playing against New Zealand at home in October. However, in IPL 2018, a rejuvenated Dhoni was spotted with the return of Chennai Super Kings, with the veteran living up to his 'finisher' tag. His stunning show in the cash-rich league showed promises that Dhoni was back. But he wasn't. His struggle at the crease, inability to rotate strike and sluggish innings continued in England ODI as well. In fact, in this season, he ha managed to amass just 156 runs in nine matches.

Despite these anxious numbers, Dhoni has been as magnificent as ever behind the stumps. Along with it, Dhoni's experience has also come in handy for the Indian team, especially with his DRS calls and him helping out the young bowlers from behind the stumps.

When De Villiers was asked whether it was time for India to replace Dhoni, the South African told ANI, "You guys are funny. No, I would play MS Dhoni in my team every day of every year. He can be 80, in a wheelchair, and he would still play for my team. He is fantastic I mean look at his record. You want to drop a guy like that? You can go ahead by all means. I wouldn’t."

Chief Indian selector MSK Prasad has assured that Dhoni will continue with India in ODIs until the 2019 World Cup and Rishabh Pant's inclusion in the format has been solely as a batsman.

https://www.timesnownews.com/sports...ill-play-him-in-my-team-ab-de-villiers/302955

 

[Duckworth Lewis]

Why did he retire? Any team would take AB over present Dhoni

 

[cricketindiafan]

Proper PR drive on. Why would you expect AB or any other non-Indian expert to say when asked about Dhoni's future? Anyone who is critical of Dhoni will gradually become a media pariah. Even Tendulkar had more critics in last stages of his career than Dhoni.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Chal nikal.

Lol.

 

[Swashbuckler]

AB looking for future job in India?

 

[Savak]

The power of the IPL.

 

[Fahdi]

In Pakistan we say, "Kam chora kar"

 

[Fahdi]

The way Dhoni is currently I wouldn't select him for Uganda's U19 team. Such a shame to see one of my favourites reduced to this.

 

[Ab Fan]

Lol, that is savage.

"Even if he is on wheelchair, he will play", haha. All easier said if you are a South African and has no business in Indian cricket setup.

But then de Villiers is one of the first names among non-Indians to say anything favourable associated to Indian cricket. And it is okay, as long as he entertains us in India, he will have love from fans here.

 

[Muhammad Saad]

His on field tactics, guidance and mentorship towards young players alone make him a permanent fixture, his batting and keeping is just a bonus on top.

 

[Muhammad Saad]

It's like having M.Asif as a fielder in our lineup, his effect on other bowlers alone make him a treat to have, primary eg is M.Abbas.

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

His on field tactics, guidance and mentorship towards young players alone make him a permanent fixture, his batting and keeping is just a bonus on top.

Nicely summed it up.

India (and SRT) owe WC'11 win to MSD (and to DRS).

 

[Zaz]

Just goes to show unfortunately how much power and sway someone like Dhoni holds It’d be a brave man who pats him on the shoulder

 

[Sam99]

Lol that's why he was poor as captain. Ab & Virat are similar. Great batsman but nothing else.

 

[troodon]

Says the guy that retired from Test Cricket while in his prime

ABD, you know you are lying.

 

[saintgrace]

Everybody wants him other than indian. haha.
For others, he is in team means one walking wicket or one spot occupied .
Just our Kohli doenst know it

 

[AFM]

$$$

 

[Monsee]

Maybe AB such make his own team then and let Dhoni be there till he is 80 and on a wheel chair LOL behind kissing takes on another completely different dimesion

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Like Kohli, he's terrible at identifying players.

 

[JattMaula]

Et tu, AB?

I know our captain is special needs man but people like you need to be honest with him.

 

[MP2011]

Just like his chum Virat, AB is too busy worshiping Dhoni.

 

[MP2011]

The power of the IPL.

lol, this doesn't have anything to do with IPL. Both of them don't even play for same franchisee in IPL.

 

[Kohli The King of Chase]

What?

Bhai, thoda believe kiye jaisa bol.

 

[BaankeJi]

Indian selectors have been helpless about these players. They could not drop Kapil, Shastri as well.

 

[AMSS]

ABDV demonstrating he has nothing but the best interests of Indian cricket in his heart and mind.

 

[AMSS]

Nicely summed it up.

India (and SRT) owe WC'11 win to MSD (and to DRS).

Yes, for flopping in the whole tournament and chancing his luck in the final against a fading murali which paid off for Dhoni.

 

[RyanRyan10]

Everybody wants him other than indian. haha.
For others, he is in team means one walking wicket or one spot occupied .
Just our Kohli doenst know it

Not a walking wicket
But worse than that
A walking wicket would not waste deliveries & suck up the momentum like he does

 

[RyanRyan10]

ABDV demonstrating he has nothing but the best interests of Indian cricket in his heart and mind.

De Villiers is trying to win over MSD fans

Now MSD fans will use his statement and annoy everyone while defending his place

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

So when Jos Buttler praised IPL, some fans were saying that it was coming from his heart and nobody should question his statement. Or did he tell me personally blah blah blah.

Now what are these same fans doing themselves? AB D praised Dhoni but these days fans don't like Dhoni so they are assuming AB D is doing it for money and other benefits? Why are some fans putting a question mark over his statement? It is coming from his heart and looks genuine. Also some of our local experts here always believe that ex cricketers know better than us arm chair critics.

Dhoni should continue playing for India even if he is 50 years old because an an ATG and IPL superstar has said that.

 

[SLcric123]

As a contemporary cricketer, you would refrain on commenting anything which might not go down well with the fans of the player or even Indian fans on whole. ABD is very well aware of this and also having never involved in these kinds of controversy, he simply said something which makes sure that he keeps himself away from any controversy.

 

[the_outsider]

So when Jos Buttler praised IPL, some fans were saying that it was coming from his heart and nobody should question his statement. Or did he tell me personally blah blah blah.

Now what are these same fans doing themselves? AB D praised Dhoni but these days fans don't like Dhoni so they are assuming AB D is doing it for money and other benefits? Why are some fans putting a question mark over his statement? It is coming from his heart and looks genuine. Also some of our local experts here always believe that ex cricketers know better than us arm chair critics.

Dhoni should continue playing for India even if he is 50 years old because an an ATG and IPL superstar has said that.

I'm pretty sure that these ex-cricketers themselves also believe they know better than us arm-chair critics.

I don't think ABD sits in his den in front of the TV thinking, "Aww man I wish I knew as much about cricket as BVB".

 

[Ab Fan]

If posters here think that on a public platform, AB would come up and say statements like, "Dhoni is a burden and should take retirement for the betterment of his country", then I am sorry, that is not happening.

AB is a celebrity and if he says anything against Dhoni, he might be criticized by MSD fans or Indian fans on twitter or other social networking sites. So, even if he feels from inside that Dhoni should actually retire, he won't say this on a public platform and rather would say the exact opposite to be on safe side.

 

[Hasan123]

Don't agree with AB here. Dhoni record is magnificent but if you have watched him play in recent years you can see his reflexes are on the decline and he has issues with rotating the strike. Also consumes to many balls.

I love Dhoni but his time is up. Very unlikely that AB would say Dhoni should retire as it is very disrespectful for someone who's still in the game to make such comments. Nothing to do with IPL contract. LOL if AB was for auction, you think no team would buy him ?

 

[Minnowbasher]

When the love of paisay is too much.

 

[Mahee]

non sense

 

[topspin]

I understand the praise and the need for it but this is OTT.

If you didn't know the guy you'd be scratching your head and wondering what's he been smoking lol

 

[Hasan123]

When the love of paisay is too much.

ABD doesn't need to make comments like this to get an IPL contract. Just needs to make himself avaliable in the auction and watch the amount of money teams would bid for him.

He doesn't need to suck up to any Indian player to earn money in the IPL. Lol he's 1 of the biggest brands in cricketing terms in India.

 

[MP2011]

If posters here think that on a public platform, AB would come up and say statements like, "Dhoni is a burden and should take retirement for the betterment of his country", then I am sorry, that is not happening.

AB is a celebrity and if he says anything against Dhoni, he might be criticized by MSD fans or Indian fans on twitter or other social networking sites. So, even if he feels from inside that Dhoni should actually retire, he won't say this on a public platform and rather would say the exact opposite to be on safe side.

This! He must have been asked by senseless Indian media about Dhoni.

 

[RamLakhan]

If posters here think that on a public platform, AB would come up and say statements like, "Dhoni is a burden and should take retirement for the betterment of his country", then I am sorry, that is not happening.

AB is a celebrity and if he says anything against Dhoni, he might be criticized by MSD fans or Indian fans on twitter or other social networking sites. So, even if he feels from inside that Dhoni should actually retire, he won't say this on a public platform and rather would say the exact opposite to be on safe side.

This is exactly what great Mr. the_outsider (or insider) should understand! The insiders/cricketers/experts do not have the freedom to express their honest views because of so many constraints (very few are unbiased/neutral/true from heart like Geoffrey Boycott! Even he was at times biased about his English players! But you can't get more honest than him!) OR sometimes they go over the board and give controversial opinions! Hence the local media and fans should play an important part in putting pressure on the board and players to take proper actions against ill-acts! Otherwise (if you leave everything on their own) then they will put themselves in doom and perish! It is like taking away democracy, public-vote completely out and leaving the political parties to themselves fight & form the Government!

If Kohli is successful as a batsman today, then the fans/media have also played an important role in that! The expectations/criticism/passion of fans can also drive the cricketers! Similarly if he is perishing as a captain then it is because he is taking favoritism too seriously and ignoring the criticism from outside! (after reaching the stardom that he got from all the hard work!)

 

[RamLakhan]

ABD doesn't need to make comments like this to get an IPL contract. Just needs to make himself avaliable in the auction and watch the amount of money teams would bid for him.

He doesn't need to suck up to any Indian player to earn money in the IPL. Lol he's 1 of the biggest brands in cricketing terms in India.

Yes this has nothing to do with his IPL contract! It is because of the "question"! Also these reporters keep questioning such things, nothing wrong with them either! As I said they need to do that job to alert & pressurize the players/board about ill-acts!

But once questioned ABD has three options to answer:
1) No comment
2) Yes Dhoni has to go
3) Dhoni has to be there

These three things can be said in different ways/tone! But finally it will conclude to these three statements! The 2nd one (bold and honest) will erupt a lot of fume (though it may appease some fans) but it will create controversies (unfortunately) with lots of counters, debates, etc! And he will suddenly become the center of focus! I think he wants to avoid it (of course!) And this may put even his IPL stint into bother (as I said he doesn't need to praise anybody to get IPL ticket! But still he is not safe totally!) The 1st statement will also comprehended finally that he actually wants Dhoni to quit but just wants to be safe! Hence the 3rd statement is the safest because in this way he can be totally away from controversy and absolutely safe with multiple negations (even then some of us can still judge that he is being sarcastic when he says that Dhoni can still play at 80 with dentures & dead eyes! We can see what he actually means! Though some may argue that he is truly honest & speaking from heart!)

This applies to most ex-cricketers, experts, contemporary cricketers, etc who directly depend on Boards for their earning! Only Basit Ali, Bishan Singh Bedi, Arjuna Ranatunga, Bhaag viru Bhaag kind of creatures who are totally detached can make bold statements which may probably come straight from their hearts and they could probably be right most times

 

[Hasan123]

Yes this has nothing to do with his IPL contract! It is because of the "question"! Also these reporters keep questioning such things, nothing wrong with them either! As I said they need to do that job to alert & pressurize the players/board about ill-acts!

But once questioned ABD has three options to answer:
1) No comment
2) Yes Dhoni has to go
3) Dhoni has to be there

These three things can be said in different ways/tone! But finally it will conclude to these three statements! The 2nd one (bold and honest) will erupt a lot of fume (though it may appease some fans) but it will create controversies (unfortunately) with lots of counters, debates, etc! And he will suddenly become the center of focus! I think he wants to avoid it (of course!) And this may put even his IPL stint into bother (as I said he doesn't need to praise anybody to get IPL ticket! But still he is not safe totally!) The 1st statement will also comprehended finally that he actually wants Dhoni to quit but just wants to be safe! Hence the 3rd statement is the safest because in this way he can be totally away from controversy and absolutely safe with multiple negations (even then some of us can still judge that he is being sarcastic when he says that Dhoni can still play at 80 with dentures & dead eyes! We can see what he actually means! Though some may argue that he is truly honest & speaking from heart!)

This applies to most ex-cricketers, experts, contemporary cricketers, etc who directly depend on Boards for their earning! Only Basit Ali, Bishan Singh Bedi, Arjuna Ranatunga, Bhaag viru Bhaag kind of creatures who are totally detached can make bold statements which may probably come straight from their hearts and they could probably be right most times

He is not going to disrespect Dhoni by saying he should retire. I can't think of too many times in sport where a fellow sportsmen will call for a fellow sportsmen to retire.

 

[RamLakhan]

He is not going to disrespect Dhoni by saying he should retire. I can't think of too many times in sport where a fellow sportsmen will call for a fellow sportsmen to retire.

That's exactly right! This is why I tell we should not take these cricketers/ex-cricketer's/experts' opinions seriously! And we should not base our opinion listening only to them! If we do that then Azharuddin would have continued to play cricket and we wouldn't have seen the Ganguly era (the start of positives for Indian Cricket!) They would have continued to sell our country for money and Indian cricket (on a whole) would have stayed backward with them making money personally (Azharuddin didn't have the vision that money can come in future in the form of IPL too!) Remember Azharuddin was backed by some of the so-called sane cricketers like Kapil Dev! If we listened to them blindly (so-called respect for expertise as claimed by @ the_outsider) and didn't impose punishment, then guess what would have happened! That's where the role of fans and media come into picture and the fruits from this are being enjoyed by current cricketers! If fans/media keep quite then Dhoni & co will play forever!