Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag on Friday backed Mahendra Singh Dhoni to keep his place in the Indian team for the World Cup in 2019 to be held in England and Wales.
As quoted by India Today, Sehwag said that he would want Dhoni over anyone like a Rishabh Pant or Dinesh Karthik, purely because of his experience.
“Even if you play Pant in ODIs from now, he won’t be able to play more than 15-16 ODIs till the World Cup which is far less compared to Dhoni, who has played over 300 ODIs. I would want Dhoni to continue till the World Cup,” said Sehwag.
The former hard-hitting right-hander also stressed that Dhoni has single-handedly won matches for India.
“Pant is someone who can hit sixes at his will, but when you talk about Dhoni, he has won matches single-handedly for the country,” he added.
Sehwag nonetheless backed Pant, who is an explosive batsman, to succeed Dhoni when the latter calls it a day from international cricket.
“So Pant has the right kind of the temperament to be a perfect heir for him. I want Dhoni to hand the baton to Pant when he hangs his boots,” Sehwag stated.
He also picked India to be one of the favourites for the Asia Cup tournament.
“I am confident India will win the trophy this year. Sri Lanka do not have the same depth in their squad like they had in the previous tournaments. Pakistan have also been inconsistent of late. So, India is the only country which has been consistent in the subcontinent and abroad,” Shesh opined.
But well-aware that few teams might turn out to be a surprise package, the 37-year old held that India would be dominant in the competition for Asian supremacy.
“Bangladesh and Pakistan can surprise India in limited overs series. Pakistan defeated India in the Champions Trophy final. That is the excitement of the limited overs cricket that you can never pick a favourite. But since India has been performing consistently, hence I still feel that India is an upper hand,” Sehwag said.