Former Indian Captain MS Dhoni hasn’t played a competitive game since India’s heartbreaking exit from the 2019 50-over World cup, courtesy a semi-final defeat at the hands of Kane Williamson-led New Zealand. He made himself unavailable for the selection for the series that followed the world cup. Now the champion cricketer made his comeback for the 13th edition of Indian Premier League starting on March 29. He will be leading Chennai super kings (CSK).
Even though he made a most awaited comeback, his future in cricket is still unknown. The topic about his future was discussed at some point in the circle during the meeting of the selection panel in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
The newly appointed Sunil Joshi led 5-member selection panel first met at Ahmedabad. With two new members in the panel did not change the stance on MS Dhoni. The BCCI official told PTI that Dhoni, who is going to play for IPL to be considered for T20 World cup selection.
Former chief selector MSK Prasad revealed that the team has moved on from Dhoni and he has to play to get back for the reckoning.
“It was a pretty straightforward selection meeting and since Dhoni was obviously not in the reckoning this time (for South Africa series), there was no formal talk about his future,” a BCCI source told PTI.
“He will be back in the reckoning only if he has performed well in IPL. And why only him, there are so many senior and young players who will play in the IPL. If they do well, they are ought to be considered too. So, you could see some surprise inclusions,” he said.
The T20 world cup will commence in October-November. So the games India play after IPL will also be considered for the final squad selection. But the performance in the IPL is preferred. Head coach Ravi Sastry also suggested MS Dhoni that he would be considered if he goes well in IPL. His future remains a subject of intense speculation as he has not played a game for more than seven months.
Finally, the long wait for “THALA” fans will come to an end when they see MS Dhoni back in action again in Wankhede stadium. The first IPL match will be held on March 29 between CSK and MI.
