If Dhoni is not scoring then we'll look for alternatives: Prasad

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Pallekele, August 14: MSK Prasad, the chief selector of India, said former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was not an automatic for the 2019 ICC World Cup and the Jharkhand man needed to score runs to be among the probables.

"Discussions happen about everybody. It's not just MS. When we pick, when we talk about combinations, we talk about everybody. You will also see that in the time to come," Prasad said.

He said the selectors will not hesitate to drop Dhoni if his performances dipped. "I was reading Agassi's book, Open; his life actually started after 30 years. Till then he won two or three (Grand Slams). He lived with media pressure, but he played till 36 and won so many Grand Slams. So, you never know. We don't say it is an automatic thing... but we will see. We are all stakeholders. We all want the Indian team to do well. If he is delivering, why not? If he is not, we'll have to look at alternatives" he said.

Prasad said the BCCI will introduce fitness as a critieria for selection to the Indian squad. "If I put my hand on my heart and say after the Champions Trophy, we felt we need to be a fitter and stronger side. We felt we need to raise our fitness levels and fielding standards," he said.

Prasad, a former India stumper, said Yuvraj Singh was rested and not dropped.

"We have started a policy where we have identified some set of players who will be considered for the next 4-5 months, and we will rotate them. After that we will get a picture that these are the players who will go on to play the 2019 World Cup. In that process, we have started rotating the players and resting some of the main players. We will see how some of these youngsters do. We will then take a call by the end of the year."