Dhoni dreaming of playing World Cup 2019, says manager Arun Pandey

Dhoni’s close friend and manager Arun Pandey revealed that the veteran is in no mood to back off from a shot at the ICC World Cup 2019

Indian cricket's team former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s close friend and manager Arun Pandey revealed that the veteran is in no mood to back off from a shot at the World Cup next year. However, Dhoni's role an ODI batsman has come under scanner after he struggled to contribute runs with the bat. The 37-year-old was able to score a half-century almost a year ago against Sri Lanka.

Dhoni's friend Arun Pandey revealed about the Ranchi born player’s future stance regarding the World Cup 2019.

"It's been a long cherished dream of Dhoni - since he gave up the captaincy in white ball cricket - to play in the World Cup next year where he would be more as a mentor to the team. His idea was to give Kohli time to develop in this role and there is still no change in his thinking," Pandey told Gulf News.

After a lot of speculations and hue and cry following the selectors’ decision to not pick Dhoni for India's T20I squad scheduled to play against West Indies and Australia, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar  had said that Dhoni's exclusion from the team is timely as India needs a young wicket-keeper batsman who can play the role of a finisher.

Undoubtedly, Dhoni has not been in good form with the bat recently.

Despite getting backing of the captain, coach and the chief selector, Dhoni as a batsman has been missing.