Don't burden Dhoni with Test captaincy: Shastri

MOHALI: Mahendra Singh Dhoni may have impressed with his leadership skills in the one-dayers but burdening him with the Test captaincy would be asking for too much from the youngster, feels former skipper Ravi Shastri.
    
The former all-rounder, who served as India's interim Cricket Manager during the Bangladesh tour, said Dhoni had proved his mettle as skipper but it was not the right time to anoint him Test captain.
    
"It will put him under a lot of pressure. In future he may do it but not at this moment. He has a lot of talent but I think he is not ready for this responsibility now," Shastri, also the Chairman of the National Cricket Academy, said here on Tuesday.
    
India have been without a Test captain since Rahul Dravid quit the post after the England tour and Sachin Tendulkar too has turned down the offer to lead the side.
    
Shastri advocated having separate captains for the Test and ODI teams.
    
Apart from Test captain, the Indian team is also without a full-time coach but Shastri, part of the Board's coach selection committee, said it would not be wise to rush the process.
    
"There is no need to rush things to get a coach. We need to pick the ideal person. We just can't take anybody and make him the coach. And the team is winning, so why the tension?
    
"We'll wait for the right time and the right man for the job," he added.
    
Shastri and newly-appointed NCA Director Dav Whatmore are in Chandigarh to have discussions with the Punjab Cricket Association on a proposed academy here.
    
Asked if India should avail the service of Whatmore -- who had applied for the coach's job earlier -- for the time being, Shastri said it would not be possible for the Australian to do justice to both jobs.
    
"Coaching is a specialist, full-time job. Whatmore is the Director of NCA and it will not be feasible for him to do two tasks at the same time.
    
"We don't want him to end up as joker on both sides," Shastri said.
    
On Team India's three ageing stalwarts -- Tendulkar, Dravid and Sourav Ganguly -- Shastri said the trio were good enough to continue in Test cricket even though he favoured a young one-day side.
    
"I would rather have these three guys play Test matches for three more years, if not more. But at the same time, I would rather invest in an young ODI team looking at the future of Indian cricket."
    
On whether Dravid should be brought back to the one-day side after he hit a double century against Mumbai in Ranji Trophy, Shastri said, "He is no doubt a great player and will play Test matches for sure."