Mohammad Azharuddin picks Dhoni ahead of Kohli as India's No.1 player in 2019 World Cup

2018 was one of that rare forgettable year for the former Indian skipper MS Dhoni. He miserably failed with the bat where he scored just 275 runs in as many as 20 One Day Internationals. He was even dropped from the T20I side for the previous six Twenty20 Internationals (three each against Windies and Australia). However, Dhoni is back in the One Day side for the three-match series against Australia, which will be starting on Saturday.

The Indian team will play just 13 ODIs before the World Cup 2019 in England. Apart from this ODI series, India plays five ODIs against New Zealand in New Zealand and five against Australia in India, which means Dhoni has just 13 games to regain his lost form before the major event.

Former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin came up with an interesting statement on this matter as he went to back the veteran up and said that his experience will play a major role at the World Cup. According to him, this could also be the key that will lead India to lift the trophy in the finals.

"I like Dhoni a lot and I feel that he will emerge as India’s No. 1 player in the 2019 World Cup because of his massive experience in this format and we have seen how he has the capability of marshaling the troops from behind the stumps,” Azhar said at India Today Mind Rocks.

Azhar also claimed that Dhoni's presence will help Virat Kohli as well. Some captaincy areas like making bowling changes, setting up the field etc. are some of the areas where Dhoni holds a great command and can supervise Kohli with the help of his tons of experience.

Apart from Azharuddin, India's current ODI team vice-captain also expressed the same thoughts during a press conference before the series against Australia where he went on to say that his presence is very important to the dressing room which helps in bringing calmness to the entire team.