Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been a tremendous servant of Indian cricket over many years now but ever since the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 debacle in England, question marks have been raised over his future. It is not new for any cricketer to go through what MS Dhoni is going as some of the biggest names in the sports have endured the same scrutiny. The only skipper to have won all ICC Trophies and countless records with the bat, the wicketkeeper-batsman has no parallels in Indian cricket. But as they say, all good things must come to an end – time looks right for MS Dhoni to go. We list out the main reasons behind this notion. India Squad For West Indies 2019 Series Selection Postponed; Eyes on Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni's Participation on Windies Tour.

Doubts Over His Finishing Ability

M S Dhoni, throughout his long career, has been known for his finishing abilities. His reading of the game is second to none and the way he bats is all pre-decided in his mind. But with age, he is losing his Midas touch forcing the calculations to go awry and hence increasing the probability of failure than success.

Lack of Acceleration in His Game

MS Dhoni has been struggling to hit the fours and sixes be it any stage of the game in the last two years. We saw in the 2019 World Cup games against England, Bangladesh and West Indies how lack of acceleration from Dhoni impacted India’s innings. In the crunch match against New Zealand, his failure to find the boundaries build undue pressure on Ravindra Jadeja who was going strong at another end.

Rishabh Pant Looks Ready

Rishabh Pant has already been identified as the long-term successor for M S Dhoni in all three formats of the game. The talented left-handed attacking batsman has proven his mettle in the longer format in the game with centuries in England and Australia in a relatively short span of time. He will only get better in ODI and T20 and improve on his keeping, if he plays more games.

Hand-Eye Co-Ordination

MS Dhoni has never had the best technique in World cricket but what he possessed was impeccable hand-eye coordination and ability to hit the ball sweetly from the middle of the bat. With passing time, this co-ordination seems to be on the wane and this is one reason we no longer see those epic helicopter shots or the straight shot over the bowler’s head. This leaves Dhoni to depend more on singles rather than take the attack to the opposition.

Leaving on a High

As they say, any sportsman wants to leave the game on a high rather than see their exit fuelled with speculations. India has seen many greats like Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid call time on their careers when they were going through a lean patch which is kind of disheartening given how well they had served their nation. M S Dhoni has seen it all and won it all which is the most perfect way to go.

An icon in every sense, whatever decision Mahendra Singh Dhoni takes is bound to grab the eyeballs. But every fan knows, the day is not far away when we see the legendary cricketer bid adieu to the game that has given him all.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 19, 2019 11:50 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).