Published: Jan 10, 2017, 10:42 AM (IST)
Edited: Jan 10, 2017, 10:42 AM (IST)
Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan praised MS Dhoni for being one of India’s best captains. Dhoni, who won the ICC World Twenty20 (WT20), ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and ICC Champions Trophy 2013, stepped down as the skipper of India’s limited-overs side last week. Muralitharan also stated that former India player, Ravi Shahstri, must have missed mentioning Sourav Ganguly’s name while compiling his list of all-time best captains for India.
“In my long cricket career, Dhoni is one of the best Indian cricket captains. The three years I played under his captaincy in Chennai Super Kings (CSK), I never saw any arrogance from Dhoni. He was always down to earth and was open to take advice from senior players like me and Michael Hussey. Being such a big star, he always maintained a low profile,” stated Muralitharan.
Asked whether successor Virat Kohli will be able to fill the vacuum left by Dhoni as captain, Muralitharan said, “I have high hopes from Virat as he loves to take challenges and is a terrific batsman. This England ODI team and T20 team is very competitive and totally different from the Test side. Kohli should not take the English team lightly and should always go to Dhoni for advice on the field. It is going to be a tough series”, Muralitharan, who has 800 wickets from 133 Tests, cautioned.
India are set to play three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) against England, starting on January 15. Sri Lanka, a team in transition, have fared poorly in recent times losing two Tests by over 200 runs in South Africa.
Asked how the void left after players like him, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene retired, Muralitharan said, “The vacuum created by us will not be fulfilled so early. It will take more time, the boys are in the learning curve. I hope they cope well fast”, he said positively.
Muralitharan ruled out any plans of returning to Sri Lankan cricket in the near future. “Presently, I am doing well with my assignments at hand and have no plans to coach the Sri Lankan team”, concluded the spin wizard.
