Dhoni wants rest before SA tour

Indian captain breaks his silence on the critical issue of a break before all-important SA tour

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is in badly need of some rest. "I want to take some rest very desperately. But I don't know whether I will be granted rest, because some seniors are going to skip the ODIs against NZ," he told MiD DAY yesterday on the eve of the third and final Test against New Zealand.


India captain MS Dhoni is keen on missing the ODIs against New Zealand.
PIC/AFP

He added: "If I get some rest then I will be refreshed before South Africa. However, things are not in my hands, I cannot make all decisions." Later, the captain told reporters that he and Chennai Super Kings teammate Suresh Raina needed rest: "We have been playing non-stop cricket since the Sri Lanka tour in July. After that, we played Champions League and then two back-to-back home series (against Australia and New Zealand)."

When MiD DAY contacted a senior member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, he said: "We have a rotation policy in place and we have maintained that players are free to ask for rest."

Dhoni will be under pressure to lead India to victory in the third Test since the first two Tests ended in tame draws.u00a0 Asked if he was worried about his lack of runs (he has scored only 96 runs in the last four Tests), he said: "I am not worried about my form. It is just a bad patch. I bat lower down the order so it becomes difficult to score runs. There is no question of moving up the order since the team is already well settled."

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