Virat Kohli cannot win a match without MS Dhoni, says former Indian cricketer

Former Indian cricketer Bishan Singh Bedi questioned Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for their decision to rest MS Dhoni for the final two ODIs against Australia and said that his absence was visible during the fourth ODI. Bedi also pointed out that Dhoni is still half a captain of the Indian cricket team.

Bedi told PTI, “I am nobody to comment but we all are wondering that why Dhoni is being rested and his absence was felt yesterday, behind the stumps, with the bat and on field also. He is almost half a captain.”

Bedi also added, “Dhoni is not getting any younger, he is no spring chicken either but the team needs him. He has a calming influence on the side. The captain needs him by his side, he is visibly rough without him. It is not a good sign."

“I would personally like them to live in the present. World Cup is still two and a half months away. Just play the game. For World Cup, we have been experimenting in the last one year and I am not happy with that at all,” Bedi said about team India’s experiment before the World Cup.

India and Australia will play their fifth and final ODI match in Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. The five-match ODI series is levelled at 2-2 after Australia pulled a record chase of 358 runs in the fourth ODI in Mohali.