Dambulla: The five-match ODI series between India and Sri Lanka could be a make-or-break affair for two veterans - Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Lasith Malinga.
The spotlight at India’s optional practice session here on Thursday was squarely on Dhoni. Especially after chief selector MSK Prasad said the other day that ‘we will have to look at alternatives’ if the former skipper doesn’t deliver, reports Times of India.
At 36, Dhoni is not getting any younger and questions about his future are being raised time and again. The wicketkeeper-batsman turned the clock back along with Yuvraj Singh in Cuttack in January, when both batsmen hit hundreds against England. Dhoni did his bit in the Champions Trophy game against Lanka, too, helping India get past 300 after the top-order had faltered.
But he is definitely no longer the ‘finisher’ that the cricketing world was in awe of. He has looked a pale shadow of his former self on many occasions recently, most glaringly during the knock of 54 off 114 balls when India lost the fourth ODI against the West Indies last month.
However, Dhoni is still reliable behind the stumps and brings a lot to the drawing board. At times of crisis, skipper Virat Kohli invariably turns to his cool-headed senior.
With Kohli and Ravi Shastri harping on fitness, the wicket harping on fitness, the wicketkeeper-batsman was seen taking those extra sprints under the watchful eyes of strength trainer Shankar Basu on Friday.

Dhoni would surely love to leave on his own terms and it seems he is not ready to throw in the towel yet.

In the Lankan camp, the name Malinga no longer send chills down rival batsmen’s spines. The 33-year-old will play his 200th ODI match on Sunday and needs just two more wickets to become the fourth Sri Lankan - after Muttiah Muralitharan (534), Chaminda Vaas (400) and Sanath Jayasuriya (323) - to enter the 300-wicket club in ODIs.

The pacer was one of the first to enter the practice arena and went through all fielding drills before bowling in the nets on Saturday. A chronic knee problem has taken much of the thrust out of his slinging action. His unique bowling action has affected the joints in his hips and legs, thereby reducing his pace over the years. So much so that he retired from Test cricket in April 2011, at the age of 27 only, just to extend his limited-overs career.

Asanka Gurusinha, cricket manager of the Lankan team, was proud of Malinga’s achievements. But when asked whether he sees the pacer playing the 2019 World Cup, Gurusinha said, ‘He is still good. So, it’s up to him to continue. But we will of course see what is good for Lankan cricket and what suits us best.’