Team India’s head coach Ravi Shastri has rubbished all the speculations about MS Dhoni’s retirement from the limited-overs cricket following the incident where he was seen taking the match-ball from the umpires.
Clearing the air, Shastri stated that the 37-year-old Indian veteran took the ball because he just wanted to show it to the bowling coach, Bharat Arun.
According to the media reports, Shastri quashed all the social media talks and said,
“MS wanted to show the ball to Bharat Arun. He wanted to show him the wear and tear the ball had endured, to get a general idea of what the conditions were like.”
Speaking further on the speculations on Dhoni’s retirement, Shastri said, “That’s rubbish. MS is not going anywhere.”
After losing the 3rd ODI to England by 8 wickets at Headingley, MS Dhoni was spotted taking the match ball from the on-field umpires. Since the video went viral on social media, the people took it as an indication that Dhoni might bid adieu to the gentlemen’s game - much like how he took the stumps following India and Australia’s Test draw in 2014.
A few days later, he surprisingly announced retirement from the longest format of the game.
Here's the video: