Former Pakistan Captain Moin Khan Credits MS Dhoni For Changing Face of Indian Cricket

Khan also criticized Pakistan head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq for accepting the dual responsibility in Pakistan cricket.

Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Moin Khan credits MS Dhoni for changing the face of Indian cricket and saw through what Saurav Ganguly had started. Dhoni is the only captain in the history of the game to win three ICC trophies – 50-over World Cup, World T20 and Champions Trophy.

The former chief selector and Pakistan team manager lamented that Pakistan cricket had fallen behind Indian cricket because of a lack of match winners.

“I credit Mahindra Singh Dhoni for changing the face of Indian cricket. He really turned them around and saw through what Saurav Ganguly had started. That is why India is producing so many quality players and they have strong bench strength,” Khan said on Gsports show on GTV News channel.

Dhoni, who made his debut against Bangladesh under Ganguly’s captaincy in 2004, has represented India in 350 ODIs, 90 Tests and 98 T20Is while affecting a staggering 829 dismissals behind the stumps. He led Team India to the numero uno spot in ICC Rankings, both in Tests and in ODIs.

Moin, who retired from international cricket in 2004, also believes Indian skipper Virat Kohli is the only batsman among the current generation who is destined to break many more records and become a legend.

“I see Kohli as the only one among the current generation of batsman who is destined to break many records as well as become a legend,” the 48-year-old said.

However, Khan was disappointed with the quality of cricketers in the current Pakistan team. “I look at the Pakistan team and we lack match-winners or game changes like we had in the 80s or 90s. When I was in the team they were so many match-winners and we all knew someone would do it that day. That was class.”

Khan also criticized Pakistan head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq for accepting the dual responsibility.

“In our cricket culture which is different to other nations this experiment is not working. Imagine the state of mind of a player in the dressing room. If he shares something about his game or personal life with the head coach, which players do, he must think twice about it because the head coach is also the chief selector,” he added.

Khan also lamented the treatment meted out to former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed. “You can’t imagine that happening anywhere else. It was sad and uncalled for. Not only sacking him as captain in all three formats but also dropping him as a player,” he said.

“Sarfaraz walks into this team anytime and they removed him when he was developing into a good and confident leader and becoming more assured and mature. I hope they realize their mistake and bring him back because his performances even as a player were so bad they should have dropped him,” the former Test skipper said.