'MS Dhoni still has got....' - Farokh Engineer opines on why BCCI named former captain as Team India's mentor for T20 WC

When BCCI announced Team India's 15-man squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, in the UAE, there were some surprise additions and notable omissions. However, the biggest talking point became former captain MS Dhoni's inclusion as the team mentor for the showpiece event.

Dhoni, who retired from international cricket on August 15, 2020, has been roped in as team mentor for the marquee tournament to help Kohli & Co. during the high-voltage event and guide the national side to their first ICC title win in over 8 years. For the unversed, Team India's last ICC trophy came in the 2013 Champions Trophy under Dhoni's leadership.

Under Kohli, India have performed exceedingly well across formats and in the last three ICC events, however, they haven't managed to win big tournaments in the recent past. Hence, Dhoni has been added to work closely with Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri. Since his appointment, many former cricketers have shared their thoughts on him taking over as the team mentor.

In this regard, former cricketer Farokh Engineer also revealed what he feels seeing Dhoni as the team mentor, while speaking to Sports Tak. "But why not? IPL has mentors. Dhoni has always and still has got the Midas touch and whatever he has touched has turned into gold. I would hope that Dhoni brings us extra luck and I'm sure his knowledge would be extremely useful," Engineer was quoted as saying. 

"What does a mentor do? It's an honorary thing. Sachin Tendulkar is the mentor of Mumbai Indians. And it’s lovely to have guys like him and Sachin around. In our time, once you give up the game, people forgot us. But today, fans do not forget. If you're a good and attractive cricketers, fans will always remember you," he added. 

The former Indian wicketkeeper feels that Captain Cool's experience will certainly be a great inspiration to the Men in Blue and is content with BCCI's decision to use his experience and stature. "At this level, players are not coached. A coach can help you and guide you just a little bit – somethings here and there or on some technical aspects," he further opined. Engineer added, "Dhoni is not the type to interfere with something or somebody. If he sees that something could be done better, I'm sure he would suggest it in a very clever way to Ravi and Virat."

It will be interesting to see Dhoni's return back to the Indian dressing room and if his presence will prove to be the difference for Kohli & Co. India start their campaign on October 24 versus Pakistan. They are placed in Group 2, along with the Men in Green, New Zealand, Afghanistan and two more teams who will join post the qualifiers.