MS Dhoni has made it clear that age is not a criterion in the selection of the Indian team. Currently, a lot of senior players are out of the team. All of them are more than 30 years of age and people have started believing that some of those guys might never be able to make a comeback.
But, Dhoni’s statements suggest that the doors haven’t been closed yet for the senior players.
When asked about selectors’ focus on forming a young team, Dhoni said, “We are not looking to form a team which only has youngsters in it. In fact, I don’t think age matters in selection at all. Things which matter the most are fitness and form. If somebody is 40 years old and he is in good form, he will surely be selected.”
When asked by Unibet about the test series against South Africa towards the end of this year, Dhoni said, “Before that, we have to play an important ODI series against Australia and we need to focus on that first. They are a good ODI side with a lot of match winners.”
“I think the due factor will be crucial in that series. The team batting second will have the advantage.”
Recently, a couple of former Indian captains i.e. Sourav Ganguly and Kapil Dev have selected their all time Indian XI. When asked if he is also planning to do that, Dhoni said, “No, I will never do that. You can’t compare players who played in different eras. Everyone who has represented India should be given respect.”
When asked about the captaincy of Virat Kohli on Zimbabwe tour, Dhoni said, “He did pretty well there. He is a matured cricketer now and I think he has the ability to become a very good captain.”