'The day I am not able to run as fast as I am right now, I will know where the guns will be coming from.'
'The composition looks good; the fast bowlers, the spinners, everyone. So it looks like a good team.'
'I have always said that IPL is a platform where you identify talent.'
On the eve of the Indian team's departure for Zimbabwe, captain Mahendra Singh spoke about his own form and fitness, why he is not ready to give up yet and the young side's strengths and weaknesses. Harish Kotian/Rediff.Com listened in.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has achieved everything possible in cricket as player and captain.
From winning the ODI and T20 World Cups and Champions Trophy to leading Team India to the No. 1 ranking in Test cricket, he has scaled every peak.
As he approaches what could be possibly the last phase, or the last few years, of an illustrious career, Dhoni, a month shy of his 35th birthday, asserted that maintaining his fitness level to keep up with the demands of international cricket is priority.
Speaking on the eve the Indian team's departure to Zimbabwe for a short limited-overs' series, comprising of three ODIs and three T20Is, Dhoni declared that the day his fitness level dips, he could hang up his gloves.
"The day I am not able to run as fast as I am right now, I will know where the guns will be coming from. I have to keep myself more fit so that fitness is not an issue. Form will keep going up and down, you can't control that," he said, in Mumbai, on Tuesday.
He may have given up Test cricket in December 2014, but he continues to lead India's limited-overs' teams. The motivation of playing for the country, he says, makes him work hard every day.
"More than what you have achieved in your career, the fact that you are representing your country (is a motivation). It is only a brief period and that is the biggest motivation for me. To achieve that I have to keep myself fit."
Former team director Ravi Shastri's recently claimed in a television interview that Virat Kohli should take over as India captain in all three formats of the game, as it would allow Dhoni to relax and enjoy his game.
But the most successful captain in the history of Indian cricket gave ample hints that he is not ready to give up, yet.
"It's not like I am not enjoying the game, but it is a decision that the BCCI will take. It's not up to me to decide that."
The 16-member Indian team for Zimbabwe is without several leading players as the selectors decided to try out the top performers in domestic cricket. Thus, it will be a big tour for the likes of Yuzvendra Chahal, Faiz Fazal, Karun Nair, Mandeep Singh and Jayant Yadav, who will all get their first taste of international cricket.
Dhoni was of the view that it will be vital to quickly assess the strengths and weaknesses of the newcomers to the side so that he can define specific roles for them.
"I think it will be a very different experience, the reason being that when you play with the same group of players you almost know the roles and responsibilities that each and everyone shares and what their strengths are. There will be quite a few players in this series who will be playing for the first time, so I will need to quickly assess what their strengths are. At the same time, depending on the composition what is the best possible slot, what is the best possible manner in which the individual can be utilised.
"So these will be the challenges. Other than that, it is good that most of them have been part of the set-up for quite some time. They have played for India 'A' and other big tournaments, so I feel when it comes to exposure they are all there.
"The composition looks good; the fast bowlers, the spinners, everyone. So it looks like a good team."
Dhoni also warned against selecting players for the Indian team based on performances in the Indian Premier League, where he believes the pressure is lesser compared to the international level.
"I have always said that IPL is a platform where you identify talent. It is very different, because whatever said and done it is still a form of domestic cricket though you play with international cricketers and the venues are international. Still, it is slightly different, because the moment you are told you are representing your country, you feel a different kind of pressure; as individuals, you go through it.
"I feel depending on IPL you can't say too much about players because the main thing in IPL is that you don't worry too much, you have 14 games. If you are a big stroke player, you keep playing your natural game, you will win us 3-4 games. With three or two individuals like that you will qualify for the next game, but when it comes to Indian cricket it is slightly different,” he opined.
India will kick-off the new season in Zimbabwe and Dhoni believes it is too early to start the build up for the 50-overs' World Cup in 2019.
"I think it is too early as of now because a lot of changes keep happening, but what we have seen, with the amount of cricket you play and the kind of schedule you have, there are a lot of things that keep happening at the international level.
"Right now, thinking about the 2019 World Cup will be looking too much ahead into the future. The next year's Champions Trophy is closer and also the fact that we won’t be playing a lot of ODI cricket. After this we will be playing against New Zealand. We play a lot of Test cricket this season. So I feel every game that we get will be crucial."
He pointed out that the bowling line-up for the Zimbabwe tour looks slightly better than the batting, since the bowlers in the squad have featured in international cricket.
Jasprit Bumrah, who impressed recently in limited-overs' cricket, will lead the bowling attack. He will have good support from the experienced Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydey Unadkat, the young Barinder Sran and pace bowling all-rounder Rishi Dhawan.
The spin department also has a lot of variety; it includes Yuzvendra Chahal, the top performer with the ball for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 9, Axar Patel and Jayant Yadav, who both have excelled in domestic cricket and the T20 format.
"Overall, they're looking good on paper - both the batting and the bowling. You may say bowling has a bit more exposure to international cricket than the batting.
"Bumrah has improved in whatever games he has got. He's had a good IPL. Barinder got a fair amount of exposure in the IPL and we saw him improve from the first game till the last. When it comes to spinners, Chahal and Axar have been veterans in the limited-overs' setup, although Chahal will be fairly new to the (national team) setup. Jayant too is there. I feel the bowling looks very good.'
In the batting department, Faiz Fazal, Karun Nair and Mandeep Singh are yet to play international cricket, while KL Rahul hasn’t featured in limited-overs for India but did well in the recent IPL.
Besides Dhoni, Ambati Rayudu is the most experienced batsman in the side along with Manish Pandey, who hit a century in his last ODI appearance, while Kedar Jadhav gets another international appearance in Zimbabwe.
"In the batting we have to see what slot is available for a particular individual. In the Indian scenario, we have seen where you get to play in your domestic scene. It's very different when you play for the national side. According to that you have to quickly adjust to the demands of the game. That is a good thing because you can show your adaptability. If the team needs you to bat at a particular position, (it's about) how you adapt and show what you can actually do and contribute to the team's win."
