MS Dhoni at 36 can beat players of 26: Ravi Shastri slams critics

Fitter and faster than players 10 years his junior Mahendra Singh Dhoni is irreplaceable in the Indian ODI team right now feels national coach Ravi Shastri who says critics should perhaps analyse their own careers at36 before finding faults in the former captain Dhonis form with the bat has been heavily scrutinised in the recent past with every failure being looked upon as an ominous signHowever the talismanic keeperbatsman did well in the justconcluded limited overs series against Sri Lanka to silence some of the criticismMS Dhoni PicPTIWe are not stupid I have been watching this sport for the last 3040 years Virat has been a part of this team for a decade now We know at this age he Dhoni can beat playersaged 26 People who talk forget that they played the game Shastri told India Today Dhonis sharp reflexes behind the stumps are still unmatched and chief selector MSK Prasad made it clear thatnone of the younger guys have quite yet matched upto the gamechanger under whose leadership India won an unprecedented two World CupsThe sentiment was echoed by Shastri who has been vocal in defending Dhoni in the past as well If they look at themselves in the mirror and ask the question what they were at the age of 36 Would they haverun two runs faster But the time they finish two this guy will run three Then he has won only two World Cups and averages only 51 Till today you dont have a wicketkeeper toreplace him in the oneday team he assertedShastri said Dhonis skill set is not easy to find and it would be long before a replacement comes along He is still one of the best around not only in the Indian team but in the world Some of the things you see withhim are not sold in the market You will not get it anywhere else he said The fact that he does not play Test cricket means he should be playing as much cricket as possible till the WorldCup in 2019 he addedShastri also spoke about the upcoming tour of South Africa which starts with a threematch Test series from January 5 The team is scheduled to depart on December 27 and wouldbe aiming to secure its first Test series triumph on the South African soil For us all opposition is the same all oppositions have to be respected and every game is a home match And as itturned out that next we are in South Africa Where South Africa is different is that we havent won a series in South Africa he saidTherein lies a massive opportunity for the team to do something special The belief is there We are going there and we will treat South Africa like we treat any other oppositionwe have played against There will be respect but we will go there to win he added Shastri heaped praise on current skipper Virat Kohli who took a break from the limitedovers series against Sri Lankaafter a massively successful year with the batThe great thing about Virat is his work ethic his realisation of what kind of player he can become and what he it takes to become that player And it has become part ofhis lifestyle What happens is that when you have a captain in that frame of mind wanting to achieve things others can only dream of Then it rubs off on other players Others want to emulatehim He wants to raise the bar for himself and he doesnt want any room for excuses said ShastriThe Indian team is signing off the year with 37 wins across all formats and Shastri said it has a lot to do with the cohesion in the dressing room The most important thing about the team is that this isa team and not an individual The word I can be thrown out of the window It is always we Individuals can stay at home if they are not part of the team culture No matter how bigthe individual That is the difference with this team he saidCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go