MS Dhoni is still going strong and England spin great Graeme Swann believes there is no reason for the World Cup-winning captain to retire after the IPL 2023 while it’s widely believed that Dhoni’s appearance in the ongoing IPL will be his last.
MS Dhoni is still going strong and England spin great Graeme Swann believes there is no reason for the World Cup-winning captain to retire after the IPL 2023. It’s widely believed that Dhoni’s appearance in the ongoing IPL will be his last.
“Every time he goes into bat, he’s smashing sixes. Why this will be his ‘last year’ is beyond me. If he wants to keep on playing, he can do whatever he likes,”
Graeme Swann, an IPL expert with Jio Cinema, said.
“In my books, he is brilliant with the gloves, brilliant with the bat and his captaincy is still the best in the IPL. I don’t think it’s his last year, I think he’s too big to go.”
Asked about Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Sunil Narine’s listless show this season, Swann said he’s just having confidence issues and the Trinidadian should not be ‘written off’.
“I just think he’s bowling without the confidence in himself. Sometimes you get that little bit of luck when a bad ball gets a wicket and it feels right again,”
he said.
“I’m not writing him off. I will still pick him in my team. When you have (Varun) Chakravarthy and Suyash (Sharma) bowling so well, they can hide him (Narine) a little bit,”
Swann added.
Swann thinks the ‘Impact Player’ rule should be used at the international level, especially in the ODI format, which many people believe is dying after the IPL posted a record amount of 200-plus totals thanks to its implementation.
The Impact Player rule, which first came into play in Indian domestic cricket, allows teams to replace any one member of their playing XI during the match.
“I see it as a success and it should come into international cricket, especially in 50-over format because that needs something to liven it up,”
Swann said.
“It’s nowhere near to T20s anymore. I think it works. There should not be just one player to pick from there should be like a bench in football you have five subs and at any point in time you can just get one in. I would not have any issue with that ever,”
he said.