‘MS will be a vital cog’

Kiran More, the former India wicketkeeper, has said that MS Dhoni will be a vital cog for the Indian team at the upcoming ICC World Cup 2019.

Dhoni played one of the most remarkable innings of the 2019 Indian Premier League, nearly chasing down 26 runs off the last over against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday.

Chennai eventually fell short by a run, but Dhoni’s 48-ball 84* showed More that he continued to be a lynchpin in every team he played for, despite his age.

“He was brilliant. It was an outstanding innings and only goes to show age is never a criteria,” More said. “Dhoni is in top form and age is just a number. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid all played till late in their career and with distinction.”

Dhoni is Chennai’s top-scorer this season, with 314 runs at 104.66, striking them at a little over 137.

“The innings took me back to 2006, and maybe around that time when a young Dhoni took the scene by storm,” More said. “He will definitely be a vital cog for the Indian team at the World Cup.”

This is a very big tournament for us. We have got a chance to play against all the top teams in the World Cup and that is a great opportunity for Afghanistan. We have the skills to compete against the top teams as we showed in the Asia Cup. I hope we can win the big moments and who knows we could do really well. We don’t have a lot of experience against the top teams but we have the talent to compete with them.

Rashid Khan 

On his team’s chances in the World Cup while talking to the Hindustan Times.