Ravi Shastri throws weight behind MS Dhoni, says 'jealous people' want him dropped

New Delhi, Nov 10: Days after skipper Virat Kohli backed his teammate MS Dhoni, India head coach Ravi Shastri has now thrown his weight behind veteran cricketer.

Shastri flayed all the critics, who want Dhoni to be dropped from India's limited-overs' format, and even went on calling them 'jealous people'.

"Looks like there are a lot of jealous people around, who just want Dhoni to have a couple of bad days.... There are a few people who are waiting to see the end of MS Dhoni. But great players like him decide their own future," Shastri said.

The head coach who was is a former India captain as well said the team knows very well what is Dhoni's worth and they aren't affected by the criticism of the wicketkeeper-batsman.

"It (the criticism) doesn't make a difference to me. In our mind, we know where Dhoni stands within the team. He is an ultimate team man. He was a great leader and now an ultimate team man."

Taking a subtle dig at some cricket experts, who are constantly suggesting the 36-year-old must be dropped from the T20I squad, Shastri said,"Not so long ago I used to do television and people used to ask me questions. You need to answer questions to make a show happen.

"Dhoni is a superstar. He is one of our greatest cricketers. So he is always going to be a great topic. He is always going to be a topic because he is a legend. When you have a career as glorious as that, you become a topic on television."

Shastri highlighted the fact that the former India skipper, who stepped down his ODI captaincy to give young Virat Kohli some time to prepare for the next world cup, has averaged over 65 in the 50-overs format over the last one year.

Dhoni played a pivotal role in some games to help India win matches during the bilateral series against Sri Lanka and Australia.