Indian cricket team head coach, Ravi Shastri has made a bold statement about former captain MS Dhoni, stating that the 38-year-old ‘may soon end his ODI career’ and added that if he does well in the Indian T20 League, he will be in line for the T20 World Cup, to be held in Australia this year.
Dhoni hasn’t played an international game since India’s semi-final exit in the World Cup against New Zealand in July last year and although he is on a break, talks about his potential retirement have been brought over and over again given that he will turn 39 in July.
As for the selectors, they sure have put their faith in young Rishabh Pant as part of their ‘moving on’ process, but the immaculate reading of the game coupled with a flawless keeping technique Dhoni brings along is simply unmatchable.
Shastri, while speaking to CNN-News18, said that he had a word with Dhoni and his performance in the Indian T20 League will act as a big factor for his future.
"I have had a conversation with MS and that is between us," he said. "He has finished his Test career, he may soon end his ODI career.
"People must respect that he's played non-stop in all formats of the game for a while.
Read | Does India even need MS Dhoni anymore?
“At his age, probably the only format he'll want to play is T20 cricket which means he'll have to start playing again, get back into the groove because he's going to play in the Indian T20 League and see how his body reacts.”
“One thing I know about Dhoni is that he will not impose himself on the team. But if he has a cracking IPL, well, then..."
Dhoni, who played his last T20 international against Australia in February 2019, has played 350 ODIs, 90 Tests and 98 T20Is for India and has a whopping 829 dismissals to his name. For Shastri, the team will consider everything in account for the T20 World Cup which includes experience, youth and flamboyance, and for that matter, the likes of Dhoni, Pant and Sanju Samson will be contention.
"They will all bat round [number] 5, 6... you will need power at the back, explosive power. All the three names you took, they all have that explosive power. (So) you will have to see consistency, experience, conditions - all that will come into play when the selectors look at it."
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Paul Ellis
