Spinners to play key role: MS Dhoni

Pitches in the West Indies will determine the shape and composition of India’s Test team in their four-match series that gets under way on Thursday in Antigua, Mahendra Singh Dhoni said here on Wednesday.

The stumper, who stepped down from Test captaincy two years ago but retains the ODI and T20 leader’s mantle was of the opinion that India’s spinners would play a key role in proceedings.

“I think wickets will be slower in West Indies but you never know. I think spinners will have a huge role to play,” Dhoni said.

He however, was quick to add that as far as he was concerned, Virat Kohli’s team had all bases covered when it came to the faster bowlers. “The more the competition better it is. It’s good that finally we have a pool of eight-ten bowlers who are pushing for selection. If I look at a year back, during an ODI series against South Africa, there were a few bowlers who were injured.

“And we now have bowlers with all areas covered. If you want pace we have that. If you want swing, we have that. Of course, we have to be careful about injury management,” he added.

Batting, as it has been for some time, would continue to be India’s strong point, the 90-Test veteran pointed out. “We have a settled top six batting. There can be one or two new faces but more or less that’s how the mix works. They have also played outside the sub-continent and have plenty of experience,” said Dhoni.

Dhoni said he missed the longer format, but life had moved on for him.

“This gives me a chance to spend time with my family,” he added.