Pant, Samson's Performances Could Play Major Role In Dhoni's International Comeback: Laxman

Laxman believes that Dhoni will keep a close eye on how Pant and Samson perform over the next few months and that might influence his own decision.

A day after M S Dhoni made it quite clear that he doesn't wish to be questioned by reporters over his comeback plans till January, former India batsman V.V.S. Laxman believes that the performances of glovesman Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson could play a major role in deciding if Dhoni will make an international comeback or not. Laxman believes that Dhoni will keep a close eye on how Pant and Samson perform over the next few months and that might influence his own decision. "I think Dhoni will wait with patience to see the performance of Pant and Samson. Whenever he gets an opportunity and he will take a call after the IPL because the way I am seeing it, Dhoni is preparing himself for the IPL. I'm sure he will do well like he has done whenever he plays and leads CSK," Laxman told Star Sports. Interestingly, India head coach Ravi Shastri has made it clear that the IPL will go a long way in deciding Dhoni's future as also whether he will be on that plane to Australia to play in the 2020 World T20.

"It all depends on when he starts playing and how he is playing during the IPL. What are the other people doing with the wicket-keeping gloves or what is the form of those players as opposed to Dhoni's form. The IPL becomes a massive tournament because that could be the last tournament after which more or less your 15 is decided," Shastri told IANS.

"There might be one player who might be there and thereabouts in case of an injury or whatever. But your team I would say would be known after the IPL. What I would say is rather than speculating of who is where, wait for the IPL to get over and then you are in a position to take a call on who are the best 17 in the country," he said.