Former Indian cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra has shared his views on why legendary captain MS Dhoni is unlikely to take up the position of India’s head coach in the future. While Dhoni did mentor India during the 2021 T20 World Cup, Chopra believes the former skipper would not be interested in a full-time coaching role.
Chopra on Dhoni’s Reluctance to Coach India
Chopra emphasised that Dhoni, like many retired players, would not want to return to the hectic schedule of international cricket after spending years in an already demanding environment.
“𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅. 𝑪𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒋𝒐𝒃. 𝑪𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕,” 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒓𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝑻𝒖𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍.
He further explained that after dedicating his life to cricket, Dhoni would prefer spending time with his family rather than committing to a year-round coaching role.
“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒔𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒋𝒐𝒃 𝒏𝒐𝒘,” 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒓𝒂 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
Why Dhoni Prefers to Stay Away from Full-Time Coaching
Chopra pointed out that the responsibilities of a full-time Indian head coach require 10 months of commitment each year, leaving little personal time. He noted that while many former players take up shorter coaching stints, like in the IPL, a national role is far more demanding.
“Even if players do get into coaching, it’s usually a two-month IPL stint. But the India job means almost the entire year. I’ll be amazed if Dhoni ever agrees to that,” he explained.
Chopra on Kuldeep Yadav’s Struggles
In the same video, Chopra also spoke about Kuldeep Yadav’s absence from India’s Test squad for overseas matches. Despite showing promise early in his career, the left-arm wrist spinner has been overlooked for long stretches.
“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑲𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒀𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒗. 𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕,” 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒓𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
He recalled Kuldeep’s six-wicket haul in Sydney in 2019, after which then-coach Ravi Shastri had hailed him as India’s No.1 overseas spinner. Yet, Kuldeep has played just one away Test since then.
“Since that match, he has barely featured abroad. I am surprised, disappointed, and even a little frustrated. He hasn’t played matches in eight years—he will get old,” Chopra observed.
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