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Former cricketers, Michael Vaughan and Adam Gilchrist recently appeared on the Club Prairie Fire podcast where the duo was encountered with some tricky questions. In one of the questions, which had the three prominent figures of Indian cricket, namely, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, the duo was asked to sell one, play one and bench the third one.
However, it proves to be a difficult one keeping in mind Dhoni, Kohli and Rohit, all three being dominant in their own eras and formats, former England cricketer, Michael Vaughan broke down the situation, giving a rather surprising answer. Without much thought, Vaughan was quick to pick MS Dhoni over Virat Kohli, while he opted to sell the latter one as he has never won an IPL title.
"I'm playing MS Dhoni. I don't think anyone's been better," said Michael Vaughan in an interaction with cricket.com. "MS is a captain," he reasoned while explaining that why he picked the former India captain over Kohli. "I'm getting rid of Virat because he's never won the IPL,” Vaughan then added while concluding, “I’m playing MS, selling Virat and Rohit is my MS substitute on the bench.”
Watch Michael Vaughan's reply to tricky "play, bench and sell" question:
Adam Gilchrist reacts to Michael Vaughan’s “play, bench and sell” reply
Former Australian wicketkeeper-batter, Adam Gilchrist, who also featured in the video with cricket.com, agreed to Michael Vaughan’s decision to pick one, sell one and bench one. According to Gilchrist, selling Kohli would also get good business and thus agreed with Vaughan’s opinion of picking MS Dhoni over Kohli and benching five-time IPL winner, Rohit Sharma.
"You'll get a good price for Virat," said Gilchrist, to which Vaughan replied, "It's good business". "I can get a load of cash for him (Virat Kohli). He'll go somewhere else for a huge amount of money," Vaughan added.
In response, Gilchrist continued, "I think that's well thought through. You're splitting hairs, it's a tough call on all, but that's the job of a manager”, leaving everyone in laughter.
It is to be seen what actually happens with the IPL 2025 mega auction set to take place later this year. However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is yet to announce the retention rules which will majorly decide on the future of MS Dhoni with the five-time champions, Chennai Super Kings along with Rohit Sharma’s stay at Mumbai Indians amid reports of him likely to be moving out from the MI camp.
