Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been criticised for not playing domestic cricket for Jharkhand but state team coach Rajiv Kumar cleared the air, saying that the former skipper’s inclusion in the team would mean a youngster sitting out.
Kumar, in an interaction with Hindustan Times, justified Dhoni’s decision of staying away from domestic cricket, adding that he appreciates Dhoni attending the training sessions and speaking to the youngsters.
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“Yes, there have been talks about this, but you also need to understand that him coming and joining the team means someone else misses out. Do you think MS would want to do that? Also, you have to understand that the youngsters in the team are trying to use every opportunity to impress and having Dhoni play the four-day format would be unfair. But he is always there to come and help the boys at training whenever he is in Ranchi. I think that is more than helpful as the kids look up to him and spending time with him can change their outlook and thought process,” he said.
Currently placed third in Group C in the points table with one loss and two draws after six matches. Rajasthan has already made it to the next stage with 34 points from six matches with Uttar Pradesh are placed second with 25 points from the same number of matches.
Jharkhand with 24 points are solid contenders for making it to the next round.
The legendary Sunil Gavaskar earlier had put forward questions in the front of the Indian cricket board as to why they are allowing Dhoni to stay away from domestic cricket.
““We shouldn’t ask Dhawan and Dhoni ‘Why you are not playing domestic cricket?’. We should, in fact, ask the BCCI and selectors why are they allowing players to skip domestic cricket when they are not on national duty,” he had said.
“If the Indian team has to do well, players have to be in prime form and for that they have to play cricket,” he had added.