Dilip Vengsarkar, former India captain and former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chairman of selectors, has hailed MS Dhoni's huge contribution to Indian cricket and claimed it is difficult to fill the void left by the legend’s retirement.
Recalling the time when Dhoni was handed the captaincy of the Indian Cricket Team for the 2007 T20 World Cup, Vengsarkar, who was the chief selector at that time, said it was the former captain’s aggressiveness which impressed all of them to give him this huge responsibility and the rest is history.
Speaking to ANI, Vengsarkar said: “Somebody has to replace him. Youngsters will get opportunities. It's difficult to fill in his shoes as his contribution was huge. He was not only a great player but one of the finest captains that India has ever seen.”
He further recalled, “When we picked him as the captain, we were impressed by his aggressiveness. His behavior on and off the field was impeccable. We picked him for captaincy in the 2007 T20 World Cup in South Africa. India won the tournament.
After that, of course, we appointed Anil Kumble as captain for the Test team in Australia and Dhoni as an ODI captain during the same tour. It was for the first time that India won against Australia. That was a big thing for us. Dhoni went on to do a very good job after that.”
Reacting on the timing of Dhoni's retirement, Vengsarkar said: “There's not much cricket in the next one year. Therefore, he might have thought that it was time to retire. He always played on his own merit and was an outstanding cricketer. As captain, perhaps he was the best we ever had.”
Noteworthy, Dhoni, who last played for India in the World Cup semi-final last July, had announced his retirement from International Cricket on Saturday evening through an Instagram post.
(With ANI Inputs)
