MS Dhoni still good for Test cricket: Mohammed Kaif

Hyderabad Feb 28 : MS Dhoni is in the autumn of his cricket career. He recently stepped down as India’s ODI and T20 captain, after retiring from Tests in 2014. He was also removed from his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rising Pune Supergiants’ captaincy as well.With India not playing any limited-overs tournament until June, Dhoni is currently leading his state team Jharkhand in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. And here the vintage Dhoni was once again in full bloom. He scored 129 off 107 balls with 10 fours and six sixes against Chhattisgarh as Jharkhand won the match by 78 runs.

More than the century, Dhoni’s prowess came to the fore as he rescued Jharkhand from 57/6 in the 20th over to 243/9. All these have led Mohammed Kaif, Chhattisgarh captain, to believe that Dhoni can still play in Tests.“He has natural abilities which you saw today. I believe he is still good enough for all formats of the game. He is still hitting the ball hard,” said Kaif, who has played 13 Tests and 125 ODIs for India.

“We would have bundled them for 120 if Dhoni was not there.”‘Difficult to find next Dhoni’Kaif added that becoming a Dhoni-like player is almost impossible. “I have been watching Dhoni from his debut match and always felt you cannot become a ‘Dhoni’ just by practice,” the former India batsman said.The 35-year-old Dhoni has played 90 Tests, scoring 4876 runs. The former India captain hit six centuries and 33 fifties. He retired from Tests in December, 2014, in the middle of an away series against Australia. He has been succeeded b Virat Kohli in the captain’s position.