MS Dhoni, after keeping mum over his international future for almost a year, drew curtains on an illustrious career with India in August this year. The former India skipper shared his journey with the national side through an Instagram video to announce his decision, leaving a huge void to fill.
Unable to match up to the standards set by Dhoni, young Rishabh Pant had to face a lot of heat following his poor glovework and inconsistent batting shows.
Though India has been able to discover KL Rahul as a dependable wicketkeeping option in the limited-overs format, Dhoni's presence behind the stumps in still considered as second to none. With his valuable inputs and suggestions to spinners, in particular, Dhoni used to make his presence felt on the field.
However, after Dhoni's departure from the biggest stage, Indian spinners haven't looked at their best, according to former India wicketkeeper Kiran More.
More's comments came after Indian spinners delivered a lacklustre performance against Australia in the ODI series, with likes of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav failing to take wickets at a consistent rate. Chahal conceded 160 runs and picked one wicket in two ODI games. Similarly, Jadeja and Kuldeep also added just one wicket each to their name.
"During Dhoni’s time, he was constantly giving advice to bowlers on what length or line to bowl - albeit mostly in Hindi. Now that Dhoni is not there behind the wickets, India’s spinners are struggling - you will see Kuldeep (Yadav) or (Ravindra) Jadeja are no longer the same bowlers," More said while talking to Indian Women's cricket team coach WV Raman.
"He has done it for 10-12 years with aplomb as Virat Kohli could afford to stand in the deep, but now he has to either stand at short extra cover or mid-off to talk to the bowlers," he added.
