This is how MS Dhoni reacted when selectors informed him about the T20 snub

MS Dhoni's reaction to the T20 snub: Unlike in the cases of the recent axing of Murali Vijay’s and Karun Nair’s where they came out in public to blame the lack of communication from the team management and selectors, Dhoni’s case thankfully does not warrant anything even remotely close to that.

It took a while but at last it did sink in. The unthinkable had really happened. MS Dhoni was indeed dropped from the Indian side for the first time since making his debut way back in 2004, albeit from the T20 one but it was enough to give wind to whispers of the beginning of Dhoni’s end. The inquisitive human mind though was not satisfied, it quickly moved over the Dhoni rested or dropped debate and wanted to know whether the World Cup-winning captain was taken into confidence before such a move at the dying stages of his career. And if he was then did he take it in the right spirit?

The answers to both are in the affirmative. Dhoni was informed about the need to try out new wicket-keeping options keeping the World T20 in 2020 in mind by the chairman of selectors himself and the former India captain ‘gracefully supported the idea’.

“I myself spoke to MS and I must say he was most gracious. I explained our need to look at a second ’keeper and MS graciously supported the idea,” chairman of selectors MSK Prasad told The Telegraph.

So unlike in the cases of the recent axing of Murali Vijay and Karun Nair where they came out in public to blame the lack of communication from the team management and selectors, Dhoni’s case thankfully does not warrant anything even remotely close to that.

But it does not undermine the fact that Dhoni’s T20I career looks all but over. It is learnt that the Indian think tank does not see Dhoni behind the wickets for the 2020 World T20 in Australia and hence wanted to prepare the next keeper well in advance of the world event.  

The two wicket-keepers fighting for Dhoni’s position are Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant, both of whom were included in India’s T20 squads for the home series against West Indies followed by the Australia tour.

"The T20Is here and in Australia, he [Dhoni] is not going to play, because we are also looking at a second wicketkeeper. That will be between Rishabh and Dinesh Karthik. So they will be getting a chance to keep and bat," Prasad said.

Dhoni’s T20I record in last 12 months – 262 runs at an average of 52 scored at a strike rate of 153.1 – may give out a different picture but that his hitting prowess, which is pivotal in T20 cricket, is on the wane is for everyone to see.

That, however, has no chance of becoming a hindrance in Dhoni’s ODI spot. His package as a cricketer complimented by his vast experience is believed to be of great importance to the Indian side for the World Cup in 2019. Dhoni is, therefore, certain to travel to Australia for the three-match ODI series that is to be followed by the T20I and Test series.