Related Links : India’s Tour of Sri Lanka 2008 | Mahendra Singh Dhoni
India’s One Day Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has pulled out of the Test Series against Sri Lanka. Dhoni has asked the BCCI to rest him for the 3-Test Series as he was desperately in search of a good break away from the game. The wicket keeper batsman is expected to lead India in the One Day Series which would give him a recovery period upto the 17th of August.
Making his debut in 2004/05, MS Dhoni has climbed up great heights in his career. He already has the distinction of becoming the first wicket keeper captain for India in Tests. With his superlative batting skills matched with reliable collection behind the stumps, it has been no looking back for MSD. He has been one player guaranteed to figure in the Indian team for any format of the game. The amount of cricket that he has played since the last year has been really unbelievable considering that he is doubling up as a wicket keeper along with playing some brilliant knocks under hot and humid conditions. And of late has to lead the Indian team as well.
Surprisingly, the Selectors have decided to have both Dinesh Karthik and Parthiv Patel as wicket keepers for just the short 3-Test Series. Wasim Jaffer has lost his place to the more sensational Gautam Gambhir with the Delhi left hander literally forcing his inclusion in the Test team. Gambhir has had some consistently brilliant batting performances in the T20s and ODIs and excluding such a wonderful talent in roaring form will only be huge blunder. Another causality is Yuvraj Singh, who lost his place to Rohit Sharma. During the home series against Pakistan, Yuvraj came up with a blinder of a knock which almost secured a certain place in the middle order. But the southpaw destroyed his chances after a pale show in the Australian Test Series. The Selectors may have also been thinking that Yuvraj is not a confident player against good spinners which definitely is Sri Lanka’s strength.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni deservingly was the most sought after player during the IPL bidding. And he did live upto the whooping $1,500,000 tag that he carried in the first edition with the Chennai Super Kings. Although he is a very strong person both physically and mentally, there would be a time when even he would break down with so much of cricket. The Indian One Day Captain could not take it anymore and he vented his feelings quite boldly during the Asia Cup. India had to play back-to-back matches in that tournament twice in the hot and humid Karachi! The man gave his best in the non-stop action of 56 ODIs, 14 Tests and 24 T20 games since the last year and a half!
The BCCI has its hands tied up on the packed cricketing schedule. The Board did a good thing though by giving the option for the players to take rest if they were too fatigued. With the kind of security that MSD has in any of the Indian team – whether it was the Test or the ODI one, it was a sensible enough decision from him to take the break at the right time. The brief hibernation will help him recharge his overworked batteries. In particular, his troubled back will come back in a strong shape before the 18th of August when he is expected to lead India in the 1st ODI.