There are players ready to replace Dhoni, admits Sanjay Bangar

Indian captain MS Dhoni on Sunday admitted that his days as the team's finisher are coming to an end after scoring a brilliant half-century in the third ODI against New Zealand, which India won by 7 wickets. Batting coach Sanjay Bangar agreed with the skipper's words saying that the younger players in the team such as Kedhar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, and Manish Pandey are on their way to take up the mantle.

“Yes, these are the players and there are few more waiting in the wings,” Bangar told BCCI.tv in an interview on Sunday.

“They are capable players and it does take time. When you are batting at No. 5 or 6, you get fewer balls to play. There would be a couple of occasions when a team would be 40/2 and then you must do the rebuilding phase as well. You need a versatile player; someone who has played a lot of first-class cricket and someone who is cool under pressure,” he added.

Bangar said that the transformation will not be immediate for the players, but can be developed by playing more games on domestic and international levels.

“It is just a matter of them getting a lot of games. By finishing games, they will have the belief that they can do it at the international level as well. That is how a player evolves and progresses.” 

The 44-year old also expressed his satisfaction after watching Dhoni play his trademark shots after a long time.

“I am very pleased for him that he got enough time to spend in the middle. He hit the trademark shots that he has always been capable of, but he had been holding back. I am happy that he has not got that out of the cold storage,” Bangar said.