July, 19: After India’s World Cup semifinal loss to New Zealand at Old Trafford,Virat Kohli was asked if MS Dhoni has informed the team about his future. “No, he hasn’t told us anything about his future,” the Indian captain responded.
Speculation about the former India captain’s international future has been rife since — whether he will be part of the limited overs leg of the upcoming West Indies tour starting August 3, or he will call time on his glorious career. The first official word on that since July 10 was expected from the selection committee chairman MSK Prasad on Friday, as squad selection for the Caribbean tour was scheduled in Mumbai. But it has been postponed and the official BCCI communication said an update will come, “with details of the meeting once it is finalised”.
As far as Dhoni is concerned, it is learnt that the national selectors no longer see him as part of the Indian team’s future scheme of things in 50 overs cricket. Chief selector Prasad is likely to have a word with the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman ahead of the selection meeting. Till Thursday afternoon, though, no conversation had taken place.
Dhoni is 38 years old and very unlikely to last in top-flight cricket till the next World Cup that will be played in India in 2023. With an eye on the future, the selectors, according to a source, want to groom his replacement. In Rishabh Pant, India have a ready replacement available for Dhoni, at least in terms of talent. But the left-hander requires adequate game time to be ready and experienced enough for the next World Cup. The Indian team will benefit if Pant can capitalise on the opportunities.
“Selectors can never tell a player when to retire. That would be overstepping their brief. But to pick a player or not to remains their prerogative. When Dhoni was the captain, he used to stress upon the fact that a young player should have 60-70 ODIs under his belt before going into a World Cup,” the source told this paper.
According to him, the matter related to T20 cricket is a little different. The next World T20 will be played in Australia next year and usually the selectors focus on the IPL to pick Indian squads for T20 Internationals. Dhoni is expected to play the next year’s IPL and he remains a key player for Chennai Super Kings apart from captaining the franchise. Even in this year’s IPL, he was CSK’s leading run-scorer, with 416 runs from 15 matches at a strike rate north of 134.
In Indian cricket, however, selectors don’t always have the last word on selection issues when superstars are involved. In 2011-2012, India had suffered Test whitewashes in England and Australia — 4-0 and 4-0 respectively. After the Test series defeat in Australia, the then selection committee decided to sack Dhoni as captain, appointing a younger skipper instead for the following triangular series.
(The Indian Express)
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