MSK Prasad reveals importance of Virat Kohli replacing MS Dhoni

Former Indian cricket team chief selector MSK Prasad on Saturday (March 7) said that he takes pride in choosing Virat Kohli as Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s successor for leading the squad.

Prasad, whose term ended a few days ago after former India spinner Sunil Joshi was named his replacement, said the biggest satisfaction he got from his term was that as soon as Kohli took over the captaincy the team became world number one in all formats of the game.

“Once Mahi completed his 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,” Prasad told Midday.

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Reflecting back on his 5-year-long tenure, Prasad said the highlight of his term was, in fact, the smooth transition from the MS Dhoni era to the Virat Kohli one.

“I personally feel that my colleagues and I can take pride in the fact that we have successfully seen the transition period from MSD to Virat very well,” he said.

The former India wicket-keeper batsman, who took over the chairmanship from Roger Binny in 2015, said that India’s success in all three formats, their efforts in bringing out new talents like Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya and preparing the squad with back-ups for every possible position were some of the achievements him and his colleagues can boast about.

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“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,” added Prasad.

The Prasad-led selection committee that included Sarandeep Singh, Jatin Paranjpe, Gagan Khoda (replaced by Harvinder Singh in new term), and Devang Gandhi was often criticised for being soft and inexperienced to hold their posts. However, when MS Dhoni retired from all formats of the sport making way for Kohli to become the skipper, the committee knew who would be the best possible successor for the World Cup-winning captain.

Meanwhile, the Cricket Advisory Committee also faced backlash for their handling of MS Dhoni’s future in the Indian squad soon after his 2019 World Cup stint. But Prasad mentioned that there is no doubt in anyone’s mind about the Ranchi player’s future.

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“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.

MS Dhoni had retired from the longest format in the midst of the team’s 2014 tour of Australia, making way for Kohli to take over the captaincy. The current skipper Kohli later became the captain in all three formats after Dhoni decided to step down as the captain of limited-overs games in 2017.