MS Dhoni Retirement: Post India’s 2019 World Cup exit in the semi-final match against New Zealand, speculations have been rife regarding MS Dhoni’s future in limited-overs cricket. While some experts believed that he must retire from International cricket, others pointed out the reasons why he should continue to represent India in white-ball cricket.
Recently, Dhoni’s long-time friend Arun Pandey has broken the ice regarding Dhoni’s future, telling that former Indian skipper has no plans to retire from International Cricket.
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Arun Pandey has told PTI that speculating on the retirement of a man of such a big statue is very unfortunate. He further said that he has no immediate plans to retire from white-ball cricket.
“He has no immediate plans to retire. The constant speculation over the future of a great player like him is unfortunate,” Pandey told PTI.
Pandey’s statement has confirmed that MS Dhoni has no plans to retire from international cricket. However, his availability on West Indies tour is still a point of discussion, given there hasn’t been any confirmation if he will play in the limited-overs series against West Indies or not.
Nonetheless, the picture would perhaps get clearer when skipper Virat Kohli has a vis-à-vis with the selection committee to select the West Indies squad on Sunday.
For now, it seems likely that the selectors will give MS Dhoni rest after a long International season, including a complete IPL Season 12.
“The selectors might consider resting some players for the limited-overs series because they have had no break in the last couple of months starting with IPL-12. But they will be aware of the fact that the World Test Championships begins will two Tests in the West Indies for India. Every Test win is important especially away from home. So it’s possible they will send a full-strength squad for the Test series,” sources close to the selectors told Cricket Next.
Recently, former national selector Sanjay Jagdale also spoke on the matter, saying that the selection panel should have a one-to-one dialogue with MS Dhoni regarding his plans.
“Dhoni is a great player and has always selflessly played for India. In my opinion, the Indian team currently has no viable alternative to Dhoni as wicketkeeper-batsman, Jagdale said.
“There is intense speculation that the Jharkhand player, who opted out of Test cricket in 2014, is mulling retirement even though he himself has remained tight-lipped about his future plans.” He added.
“Dhoni is mature enough to take a decision on his retirement. But the (national) selectors should meet him to find out what is going on in his mind about his professional future as was done in the case of Sachin Tendulkar before his retirement, added Jagdale (68), a former office-bearer of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association.” Former national selector concluded.
