Will look for alternatives if Dhoni doesn’t deliver, says MSK Prasad

CHIEF SELECTOR of India, MSK Prasad, has stated that MS Dhoni will not be an automatic choice for the 2019 World Cup if they see a dip in his performance. 

Prasad said that the selection committee will look for alternatives if the Ranchi-lad doesn’t deliver with the bat.

"Discussions happen about everybody. It's not just MS. When we pick, when we talk about combinations, we talk about everybody. You will also see that in the time to come. He said the selectors will not hesitate to drop Dhoni if his performances dipped. I was reading Agassi's book, Open; his life actually started after 30 years. Till then he won two or three (Grand Slams). He lived with media pressure, but he played till 36 and won so many Grand Slams. So, you never know. We don't say it is an automatic thing... but we will see. We are all stakeholders. We all want the Indian team to do well. If he is delivering, why not? If he is not, we'll have to look at alternatives." 

Prasad called for the need of raising fitness and fielding standards of the Indian team.

“If I put my hand on my heart and say after the Champions Trophy, we felt we need to be a fitter and stronger side. We felt we need to raise our fitness levels and fielding standards."

The former India wicket-keeper also added that Yuvraj Singh was rested and not dropped.

"We have started a policy where we have identified some set of players who will be considered for the next 4-5 months, and we will rotate them. After that we will get a picture that these are the players who will go on to play the 2019 World Cup. In that process, we have started rotating the players and resting some of the main players. We will see how some of these youngsters do. We will then take a call by the end of the year."
 

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