Ajit Wadekar, the former Indian skipper, believes that the whole national team let the country down in the recently-concluded ICC World T20 2012 in Sri Lanka and feels that blaming Mahendra Singh Dhoni only is not justified.
The wicketkeeper/batsman has been under immense criticism from different ranks after India’s ouster from the mega event, with majority of the cricket analysts not happy with Dhoni’s defensive tactics.
The cricketer from Jharkhand remains one of the most successful captains of India’s cricketing history, having won the ICC World T20 2007 in South Africa, ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 at home and also leading the Men in Blue to ICC’s number one Test ranking a couple of years ago.
While defending the hard-hitting batsman, Wadekar expressed that a captain is as good as the team and Dhoni cannot be blamed because the openers and the bowling attack was not in good form, which made things extremely hard for the wicketkeeper.
"It is the team that is not performing well. Our openers (Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir) are out of form. You need a solid pair at the top to get momentum going. Bowling combinations are not working out well for the team. So, naturally the team will not do well," said Wadekar.
It is most likely that Dhoni will be retained as India’s captain for the forthcoming Test series against England, which starts next month in Ahmedabad. The four-match battle will be followed a limited-over series against England and Pakistan.
Another former cricketer, Anshuman Gaekwad also backs Dhoni to continue leading the Men in Blue in future as well but being a former coach, he understands that it is not easy to captain the team in all the three formats of the sport.
However, Gaekwad thinks that the wicketkeeper should be allowed to decide his own fate.
“If Dhoni is able to handle all this and is able to take the pressure, then he should continue to lead. Not that we don't have good captains, but we need someone more experienced to lead the country. Dhoni is the best judge to assess his captaincy," feels Gaekwad.
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