The announcement of the Indian squad for the upcoming South Africa T20s has once again ignited the speculations over Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s retirement. The BCCI announced a 15-man squad on Thursday where Hardik Pandya found a spot but there was no Dhoni.
Right after this announcement, all the pundits have begun scratching their heads whether the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman has been ignored and the writing was on the wall for India's most decorated captain.
However, the selection committee has scrapped all the rumours, stating that Dhoni has actually given the five wise men time to build the team with an eye on the 2020 World T20 in Australia. Also, he has promised to take a call on his career only once Team India's future was in safe hands.
“There is no question of ignoring him. On the contrary, he has given us time to go ahead and plan the future keeping an eye on the World T20 next year. He realises that the team comes before public opinion and considering the fact that we still don't have a genuine replacement if Rishabh Pant gets injured in the shorter format, Dhoni has agreed to hold on,” one of the Indian selectors was quoted as saying by IANS.
Asked if there has been any talk with regards to what lies ahead for Dhoni post the 2019 World Cup, the selector said, “No. We are yet to sit down with him and talk about the roadmap ahead and that is why he has given us some time to chalk out our plans and look at the options that we have at our disposal. Life beyond Dhoni isn't something that looks too bright if Pant is injured for some reason or has to miss the World T20.”
This once again brings up the question whether Dhoni the batsman will then needed to be shielded because he is clearly no longer the force he was. But the selector begs to differ with the general opinion.
“Is this the perspective of the fans? The team management clearly knows what he brings to the table. Even today, we don't have his replacement as a finisher. Anybody who has played even one game on the international stage knows the weight of those boots,” he said.