Let MS Dhoni continue as the national captain, says Lalchand Rajput

India’s former coach and Test cricketer, Lalchand Rajput, has come out in support of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and expressed that the wicketkeeper/batsman remains the best choice for leading the national team.

After India’s early exit from the ICC World T20 2012 in Sri Lanka, a number of cricket pundits have slammed the team’s performance and Dhoni’s defensive captaincy, which in their opinion, led to the Men in Blue’s downfall.

Since winning the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 at home, India’s performances in international cricket have been below par, being whitewashed by England and Australia in Test cricket and failing to qualify for the finals of the triangular series in Australia earlier this year.

On top of that, team India could not defend the Asia Cup 2012 in Bangladesh, with Pakistan emerging as the new champions.

Wasim Akram, the former Pakistan captain, who has been keeping a close eye on Indian cricket over the years, recently urged the cricketer from Jharkhand to give up captaincy in at least one format of the sport.

Rajput, who was the coach of the national team during their title triumph in the ICC World T20 2007 in South Africa under Dhoni’s leadership, rates the wicketkeeper/batsman extremely high and thinks that he should be allowed to continue.

"Team India is in safe hands under Dhoni. There is no need to change the captain at the moment. As long as Dhoni is enjoying leading the team, he should be allowed to continue. He is not one to bog down under pressure. Team India needs a skipper like him," said Rajput.

Another former captain, Ajit Wadekar, seconds Rajput’s opinion and expressed that Dhoni has done a remarkable job for India over the years and hopes that the aggressive batsman can serve his country in future as well.

Wadekar mentioned while defending Dhoni, “As long as he can handle the pressure and demands well, there is no need to change the captain. Dhoni has done extremely well as a skipper. He is India's most successful skipper after all. I am sure he can carry on for many more years as skipper.”