Dhoni past his prime: Binny

Former Indian cricketer and selector Roger Binny feels wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni is past his prime now and that is evident from the way he has been playing cricket in the last two seasons.

Dhoni last played for Team India in the semifinal of the 2019 ICC World Cup in Manchester where they suffered a heartbreaking 18-run defeat to New Zealand.

"He Dhoni) has lost a bit of fitness. There are younger players coming through the system. He was good enough to pass on the gloves to the younger players which is good of him but yeah, I think he is past his best," Binny said during an interaction on Sportskeeda's Facebook page.

"Seeing him the last couple of seasons, he is easily past his best cricket, which we have seen him capable of doing," he added.

Dhoni was gearing up to take part in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in March, knowing a good performance in the league for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) could help him seal a place in the squad for T20 World Cup Down Under, when the coronavirus pandemic forced the BCCI to postpone the event. The IPL will now be held in the UAE in September. The decision came after the ICC postponed the T20 World Cup.

Dhoni & Pant — Rishabh Pant, who succeeded Dhoni in the shorter formats of the game, has failed to cement his place in the Indian team. File photo

According to his teammates, Dhoni looked in good touch in the training sessions that were held before the original starting date of the tournament (March 29). The CSK management held a training camp at the Chepauk Stadium in early March.

"Honestly speaking, whenever a cricketer makes a comeback after such a long break, people think that he will be a bit rusty. But I am sure he was doing something at Ranchi because when Dhoni landed in the camp, he didn't look rusty at all. His routine work was -- he played five-six balls and then used to clear the fence," CSK spinner Piyush Chawla told Aakash Chopra on the latter's YouTube channel, last month.

"He batted for long. In fact, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Dhoni and Murali Vijay....there were limited players in the camp and there were a number of bowlers. So everyone batted for long - 2-2:30 hours every day. Every batsman played 200-250 balls," he added.

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