Bangalore: Former Australia captain Ian Chappell does not find MS Dhoni good enough to be India’s Test captain, saying he was past his prime as far as leading the side and it was right time to hand the reins of the team to Virat Kohli. “I think it time for MS Dhoni to go and may be it is right time for Kohli to come in as captain,” Ian Chappell said in an exclusive interview here. [caption id=“attachment_1619403” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of MS Dhoni. AFP[/caption] “Certainly, he (Dhoni) is not a Test captain. I think he is a good captain in shorter-version of the game. I don’t think there would be a problem to give it to Virat Kohli now, though,” he said. Chappell said India need a fresh brain to lead the side, but Indian selectors are not ruthless to take hard decisions. “Indian selectors do not have the ruthless quality as Australian selectors have. They wait for the guy to retire. I mean after he (Dhoni) lost 4-0 to England and Australia, if he would have been an Australian captain he would have gone. He did nothing to inspire the team,” he said. “You can always loose, that is fine, but you go down fighting. I did not find him do that. To me the captain has lost his usefulness and it is time for him to go.” Chappell said 27 is about right age for Kohli to lead the side. “I don’t think captaincy would affect Kohli adversely because he is a very strong character and is a confident cricketer. So he can work out (things) as a captain. At 27, you have got four to five years for a player to peak, and it is crucial to give the guy the captaincy. “No good giving him captaincy at the age 32 to 33, when he is started to go over the top. You got to give him his best chance,” he opined. Chappell said the biggest problem for the Indian team is selection as he put question mark over Stuart Binny’s place in the playing XI in the first Test against England. “The selection was wrong. If you don’t get selections right it is pretty hard to win. How can you leave Ashwin. Why did they pick Binny? Binny is not a bowler and he bats at number eight. Ashwin also can bat and far better bowler. Ashwin is far better bowler than Jadeja as well. So they have to sort that out.” In next Test at Lords, Chappell said he would love to see Rohit Sharma and Ashwin in the playing XI. “Lords is not that good for spinners. So, I will drop Jadeja and Binny, and play Rohit Sharma and Ashwin. That will be far better balanced side.” PTI
“Certainly, he (Dhoni) is not a Test captain. I think he is a good captain in shorter-version of the game. I don’t think there would be a problem to give it to Virat Kohli now, though.”
Advertisement
End of Article
Written by FP Archives
see more