Dubai: While the talks of MS Dhoni future of international cricket refuse to slow down, the former India skipper has finally broken his silence on the debate.
Following the second India versus New Zealand Twenty20 in Rajkot, Dhoni had come under the scanner with the likes of VVS Laxman and Ajit Agarkar asking him to make way for the youngsters.
"In T20s, MS Dhoni's role is at No 4. He requires more time to get his eye in and then do the job. But today (Saturday) was a classical example because when Virat Kohli was batting, Dhoni had to give strike to Kohli. Kohli's strike rate was 160, MS Dhoni's strike rate was 80. That's not good enough when India were chasing a mammoth total," said Laxman during a post-match show after the Rajkot T20.
Read: MS Dhoni must make way for youngsters in T20Is, says VVS Laxman
"I think India must now look at other options, at least in T20Is. In one-day cricket, they seem to be happy with the role that he is playing. When you were the captain of the side, it was different. But just as a batsman, will India miss him, I don't think so. In T20 cricket, it is a lot easier to make that transition as there is a lot of experience in that team apart from MS Dhoni now," Agarkar had said during a show on ESPNcricinfo.
Read: After VVS Laxman, Ajit Agarkar opposes MS Dhoni's place in Virat Kohli's T20 squad
However, Team India skipper Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri have thrown their weight behind the embattled Dhoni.
"First, I don't understand why are people only pointing him out, I'm not able to understand this. If I fail as a batsman three times, no one is going to point fingers at me because I am not over 35. The guy is fit, he is passing all the fitness tests. He is contributing to the team in every tactical way on the field. With the bat, if you look at the series against Australia and Sri Lanka, he did really well. In this series, he has not got much time to bat,” Kohli had said after India's win in Thiruvananthapuram.
Read: India skipper Virat Kohli minces no words, slams MS Dhoni critics in press conference
Ravi Shastri, meanwhile, hit out at the "jealous" people who targetted Dhoni.
Read: Team India head coach Ravi Shastri hits out MS Dhoni critics
Dhoni, who was in Dubai on Saturday, to launch his first academy in the city, though played down the entire situation.
"Everybody has views in life and it should be respected," Dhoni was quoted as saying by The Khaleej Times.
India's World Cup-winning skipper also revealed what keeps him motivated to play cricket.
"It is representing the country which is the best motivation for me because we play cricket for only a span of time. You can play for one year to 15 years, some play 20 years, but in the life span, let's say you live for 70 years, 10 to 15 years is nothing and that's the only time you can proudly say that I'm representing my country. The biggest motivation is being part of the Indian cricket team," Dhoni said.
The former Indian cricket team skipper once again highlighted why, for him, process is more important than the results.
"I always feel you have to believe in your abilities and out of the 10 games, if you are winning six or seven that way, then it is the right thing to do. And I've always believed in the fact that process is more important than the result, so, I've not thought about the result, I've always thought about what is the right thing to do at that time, when it is 10 runs needed, 14 runs needed or five runs needed. So, I've always been engrossed with the process that I never took that burden of what if the result doesn't go my way. At the end of the day, once the match gets over, if I look into the mirror and honestly say that I tried my best, then I can accept the result," said Dhoni.
Dhoni, who burst onto the cricket scene with the now-famous helicopter shot, revealed where and how he learnt that trademark shot.
"It is something that I learnt while playing tennis ball cricket in the roads and gullies of India. It is a difficult one and I used to play it in tennis ball cricket but I realized it is very difficult to implement it in a proper cricket game. The reason being, in tennis ball cricket, when you hit from the toe of the bat, the ball travels a lot but in this you can't and you have to hit the middle part of the bat. So, I did a bit of work on that and eventually it fell into place and I started playing that shot," concluded Dhoni.
