After axing Yuvraj, selectors send 'perform or perish' message to Dhoni

  Pallekele: Now with Yuvraj Singh already dropped or ‘rested’ for good, there is only player that is coming in between India’s Gen y team – MS Dhoni. But if chairman of selectors MSK Prasad is to be believed then the Dhoni roadblock may soon be cleared if the former India captain doesn’t perform. While Prasad explained that door is not closed on Yuvraj Singh, he maintained a stronger stance for Dhoni “Discussions happen about everybody. It is not just MS. When we pick, when we talk about combinations, we talk about everybody. You will also see in times to come," said Prasad. "You never know. We don't say it is an automatic thing (selection) but we will see. We are all stakeholders. We all want the Indian team to do well. If he is delivering, why not? If he is not, we will have to look at alternatives," Prasad answered in a pragmatic manner. He then drew the Andre Agassi analogy about how some players get better with age. "I was just reading Andre Agassi's autobiography 'Open', his life actually started after 30 years. Till then, he won two or three. His actual life started after that. He lived under the media pressure with the question "When are you going to retire?" But he played till 36 and he won so many Grand Slams." It is true that Dhoni has clearly passed his heydays as a match winning finisher, but the current Indian team cannot boast of another stumper to fill in his shoes. Young Rishab Pant is still seen as a T20 specialist and Dinesh Karthik only comes in to replace a proper batsman but seldom as a wicket-keeper. So unlike Yuvraj, Dhoni is still the only choice for the slot he plays in. But as Prasad has indicated, India’s most successful captain will soon have to prove his worth in the next couple of series if he is harboring hopes for keeping wickets in the 2019 World Cup.