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MS Dhoni irreplaceable till 2019 World Cup: Sehwag

Former legendary India batsman Virender Sehwag has come out strongly in support of MS Dhoni and said that the World Cup winning skipper should be a part of 2019 World Cup squad.

"I don't think anyone can replace Dhoni at this point of time. Rishabh Pant is good but he would also need time to replace him. But that can only happen after 2019. It's then when we should think about Dhoni's replacement. Till then let Pant gain experience," Sehwag told PTI.

Sehwag further said that fans should pray that Dhoni remains fit rather than focusing on his batting.

"We should not worry about whether Dhoni is scoring runs or not. We should only pray that MS Dhoni is fit till 2019 World Cup. The experience that he has in the middle and the lower middle order, no one has that," said Sehwag.

For Sehwag, Dhoni's entire career is a definition of 'cycle of life'.

"Like life, the beauty of sports is that no two periods are identical. You will have to deal with it. There are days when you make runs and there will be a dry spell. Like in business, every year you don't make profits," he said.

When asked if he sees KL Rahul donning the big gloves, Sehwag shot down the idea completely.

"I would never want a guy, who is not a natural 'keeper. It's not keeping 20 overs in Indian Premier League. During a 50-over match, one missed stumping or missed catch can change the course of the match. It's not a risk worth taking," said Sehwag.

The swashbuckling opener further stressed that the middle-order batsmen should be given more chances so that everyone has close to 100-match experience by the time World Cup begins.

"The middle-order that would play in the World Cup along with the bowlers should be given enough opportunities, so by the time of World Cup, they should have played close to 100 ODIs each. They should be ready to handle each and every challenging situation thrown at them," he said.

"Experience always enables you to handle pressure better. They can then win you matches in crunch situations. If they are not given that many chances, they could be the weak link. Next 3-6 months, I hope that the core is set."

Sehwag wished to see either Yuvraj Singh or Suresh Raina playing the 2019 World Cup.

"Let one of the middle-order slot be given to one of them while the other slot may be rotated between Kedar Jadhav and Manish Pandey. In that way, you also have given these guys experience while one seasoned player is also there in the set-up," he signed off.



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