Transition period from MS Dhoni to Virat Kohli's leadership makes me proud: MSK Prasad
MSK Prasad stint with Team India as the chief selector ended a couple of days back. Newly-formed BCCI's CAC members Madan Lal, RP Singh and Sulakshana Naik chose former Indian spinner Sunil Joshi as his replacement.
During his 5-year-long tenure as a selector, Prasad revamped the Indian side in all three formats. He was often criticized for his selection criteria but he looked back the time with satisfaction.
After his tenure with the team, Prasad said that the transition period from MS Dhoni to Virat Kohli was very satisfactory for his team.
“I personally feel that my colleagues and me can take pride in the fact that we have successfully seen the transition period from MSD to Virat very well," Prasad told Midday.
MS Dhoni retired from Test cricket during the Australia tour in 2014 after the third Test in Melbourne, as his deputy Virat Kohli was announced the new captain of the Asian giants in the red-ball cricket. Later in 2017, Dhoni stepped down from the ODI and T20I captaincy post to give ample to Kohli to get well-prepared for the 2019 ICC World Cup.
“Once Mahi completed his [captaincy] stint, we had to look at somebody who could step into those shoes. We wanted to see that happening smoothly. Once Virat took over, we reached the No. 1 ranking across all three formats. That’s the biggest satisfaction I got,” added Prasad.
Under Kohli's captaincy, Team India played dominant cricket in all three formats and achieved top ranks in all three formats. India are still top on the ICC Test rankings and are leading the table in World Test Championships with 360 points in 8 matches.
Many questions were casted on Prasad and his selection committee- Sarandeep Singh, Jatin Paranjpe, Gagan Khoda (replaced by Harvinder Singh in new term) and Devang Gandhi, over the handling of Dhoni's situation on his sabbatical from cricket post-2019 World Cup heartbreak in the semifinal against New Zealand.
“I don’t really see any ambiguity. MS is clear about his future which he expressed to me and the team management. I cannot disclose details as it is confidential. It’s best that whatever discussed and shared between us [selection committee and the team management] remains there. It’s an unwritten code,” said Prasad.
Prasad also felt proud of picking limited-overs specialists like Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya in the Test cricket, in which they are enjoying immense success.
“There are plenty of great selections that we can talk of like Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya coming into the Test team. From nowhere, we brought in Rishabh Pant. He was nowhere in contention. We groomed him through India ‘A’ tours. Nobody expected he’ll do so well,” said Prasad.
