Dhoni’s experience is priceless, insists India coach Shastri

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Mumbai :India coach Ravi Shastri has, for the nth time, spoken of former captain and wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni in glowing terms, and that’s is a clear indication that come the World Cup in England and Wales next year he will definitely be keeping wickets for the Virat Kohli-led team.
In the last few months, there have been suggestions from certain quarters that Dhoni is not the same player anymore but Shastri made no bones about what he thought of the matter.
“He’ll (Dhoni) go down as one of the greatest one-day players the world has ever seen. And when you have that kind of experience, the level of fitness and what he’s maintained.
“And like I said, there is no substitute for experience. That cannot be bought or sold in the market,” Shastri told India Today.
During the limited-overs leg of the recently concluded South Africa tour, Dhoni scored 69 runs in four ODI innings with an unbeaten 42* off 43 balls being his highest in the fourth game of the six-game rubber.
In the following three-game T20Is, he scored 80 runs in all with 52* being his highest.
It is interesting to note that in both the series when the 36-year-old spent some time in the middle and got runs, the Indian team lost.
Shastri doesn’t seem to set much store by that fact as he added: “When it comes to finishing a game or batting in the final overs, there have been very few better than him in the history of the game.
“When you have that cushion of someone like him coming at No. 5, 6 or even 7 it makes a big big difference.”

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