Australian coach Justin Langer was all praises for former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni after the wicket-keeper batsman guided India to their first ever bilateral series win in Down Under.
Langer also said that Dhoni is a superstar and an all-time great of the game. Speaking about his fitness at the age of 37, Langer confessed that he was amazed after seeing him “running between the wickets.” Langer also said that playing against Dhoni has been a rich learning experience for his young side.
After facing criticism for his performance in 2018, when he was not able to cross the mark of fifty even once, Dhoni started his 2019 with a bang by scoring three back-to-back half-centuries in as many games.
The 37-year-old wicket-keeper batsman scored an unbeaten 87 off 114 balls to anchor India to a seven-wicket victory in the third ODI as Kohli’s side clinch the series 2-1.
“He (Dhoni) is 37 years old. His running between the wickets is elite, and his fitness is elite. For him to run between the wickets for three days in a row, it was 40 degrees the other day, and play like that, he is a superstar of the game and that’s what Australians should be aspiring to be — superstars of the game,” Langer was quoted as saying at the post-match press conference.
Langer added, “MS Dhoni, like Virat Kohli, like Cheteshwar Pujara in the Test series, they give us really great role models. MS Dhoni, his record, everything speaks for itself as a captain, batsman, wicketkeeper. He is literally an all-time great of the game and it has been, as hard as it is to lose, a privilege to play against those guys.”
In the third ODI against Australia, Dhoni was dropped twice at the score of 0 and 74 and Langer said that cost his side the match.
“You drop MS Dhoni a couple of times and you don’t win. You don’t give great players chances. We did that tonight. We get down the 49th over and MS is there again. It was a great lesson for our squad. We talk about match winners, getting the job done — he showed us again. It is a great tutorial for our batters,” Langer added.