BARAMULLA (KASHMIR): India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni refuses to speculate on who can be his successor as it’s not in his hands but given a choice he would choose himself for the top job.
Responding to a question on his successor, Dhoni said he would not like to name anyone in particular as it was not for him to decide.
“It is not my choice … my choice would be me.,” Dhoni told reporters here at a place which is 55 kms from Srinagar.
“As far as the contenders as concerned there are many… we have Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli,” he added.
Sehwag was deputy to Dhoni for a long time before his opening partner and Delhi teammate Gambhir was appointed as the vice-captain of the team. But Sehwag was made stop gap captain when Dhoni was rested from ODI series against West Indies.
However, following series of good performances Down Under, Kohli was named as the vice-captain of the team for Asia Cup played in Bangladesh earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Dhoni said the development of cricket in smaller cities was a long process which will take time but some improvement is already visible. “We can see some new stadiums have come up (in smaller cities and town),” he said.
The dashing cricketer from Jharkhand also feels that if J&K players perform consistently at the domestic tournaments like Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy, there may be player who would then represent the country. “Talent can only be proven by performing consistently,” he said. On the resumption of Indo-Pak cricket ties, the Team India captain spoke in favour of it.
“It is important to start from somewhere. If it is cricket, then so be it, because we are not ambassadors of only cricket but sports at large,” he said. (PTI)
