Dhoni's removal will be 'unreasonable' move: Akram

New Delhi:

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has thrown his weight behind under-fire India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and said his removal from the helm of the national team would be an "unreasonable" decision.

Dhoni has come under attack from different quarters after Indian team failed to win a single match in the World Twenty20's Super Eights stage and crashed out of the mega-event.

"I do not think it would be a good idea to change the captain. It would be very unreasonable if the BCCI strip him of the T20 and ODI captaincy," Akram said.

"It is true that the Indian team have not performed well at the T20 World Cup but removing captain is not the cure-all. Except this event, the team have done well and Dhoni is a brilliant leader.

"We should not sit in judgement on him so early. He is only 28 and has good prospects ahead. I, for one, would never support his removal," Akram told a sports channel.

Akram, however, feels that the Indian cricketers should take their coach Gary Kirsten's comment on fitness in a constructive manner and devote more time to improve fielding.

"Gary is an intelligent man, he does not speak publicly very often. But if he saying that fitness is a major issue with the Indian players, there's got to be some truth in it," the left-arm pacer said.

"All I can say is that Gary should be taken seriously by the players in this regard because it is a big issue," he added.

The South African reportedly said that as many as eight players in the squad were overweight and three of them were in fact unfit for the international cricket.