Have we seen the last of MS Dhoni in T20Is?
On the 21st of November, we are about to witness the start of the much-awaited India vs Australia series. The Indian cricket team will be visiting Down Under for the first time after the 2016 limited overs series and will be playing red-ball cricket in Australia after a long break of 4 years. Since then the team has seen huge changes, whether it be the captain, their key players and their attitude.
Back in 2016, the team was looking to give chances to the veterans who were trying to make a comeback such as Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra. However, this series will see captain Virat Kohli invest more time and energy in the youngsters who will carry forward Indian cricket while also keeping the World Cup, which is a mere 6 months away, in mind.
While this decision wasn't a surprise, it was something that did shake up millions of cricket fans around the world was the exclusion of MS Dhoni from the T20I squad for the Australian series.
For those people who haven't yet realized, the former captain of the Indian Cricket Team and arguably one of the greatest finishers the world has ever seen, has not flown with the squad to Australia.
Adding to the shock was the announcement that he was not rested from the T20I squad but was dropped. This decision created a stir and raised plenty of eyebrows among the Indian fans.
In fact, BCCI chief selector MSK Prasad had to come out and clear the air on why Dhoni was not in the squad. He explained that Dhoni has been left out from this squad as the search for the 2nd wicket-keeper has started.
However, the last time experienced players were dropped in order to give youngsters a chance, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja ended up losing their places to Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI in white ball cricket. The big question now is whether MS Dhoni is going to face the same fate in T20Is?
It is not a secret that Dhoni is inching towards the end of his career. While his fitness levels have not dropped an inch, the pace at which he played earlier is a far cry from the way he operates currently. Unfortunately, T20I is a format, where batsmen, especially those who come in the middle-order like Dhoni, cannot afford to waste any balls and are expected to score big from the word go.
With age not on his side either, would it be right to believe that we have already seen the last of MS Dhoni in the shortest format of the game?