5 Players who might announce retirement with T20 World Cup 2020 getting postponed

5. MS Dhoni

July 10th, 2019- it has been over a year since that apocalyptic day in Manchester for India. Not only it was another World Cup knockout loss for the Indian cricket team, but also it was the last time MS Dhoni was seen batting in the national ‘blue’ jersey.

He has since been on an indefinite break from international cricket. Meanwhile, fans speculated his retirement news a couple of times on social media– trending #ThankyouDhoni and #DhoniRetires– only for his wife, Sakshi, to ruffle all the talks conspicuously on Twitter.

The wicket-keeper batsman last played a T20I in February 2019 in a home series against Australia. “Thala” has had two magnificent IPL seasons in 2018 and 2019, but his numbers in international Twenty20 doesn’t justify the tag of a finisher, anymore.

Dhoni played with a strike rate of 116 in 2019 and has batted with a strike rate of 140 in the last five years in T20Is. KL Rahul– Man of the Series in the T20Is against New Zealand— has now been given the regular wicket-keeping duties, and there is Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson also waiting in the queue for a spot in the national team.

We expect the messages would have been conveyed distinctly to the youngsters about their chances and opportunities in the team, even with Dhoni not retired. While words may not be enough to do a justification on the accolades Dhoni has achieved as a player and a captain, but at some point, sadly, he has to bid adieu, at least from T20 internationals, sooner rather than, well, later.