MS Dhoni can still play the T20 World Cup despite contract snub

MS Dhoni’s exclusion was the highlight of the recently-announced central contract list for Team India. The BCCI, on Thursday, announced the list with 27 players getting the central contracts. A total of four players – MS Dhoni, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik and Khaleel Ahmed – were dropped from the list. But unsurprisingly, MS Dhoni’s omission has been the biggest talking point although the snub is not very surprising.

With the former India skipper staying away from any form of cricket for the last six months, he was very much unlikely to get the contract which covers the period between October 2019 to September 2020. Dhoni has not played any match for India or any other competitive match since the World Cup ended in July and thus the exclusion was pretty much on the cards.

However, the fans are not at all ready to fathom this fact as they made their displeasure clear on Twitter. Thousands of fans lashed out at the BCCI for not awarding MS Dhoni the central contract as they think that it is now the end of the road for the legendary wicketkeeper-batsman.

Also Read: ‘Not fair BCCI’ – Twitter fumes after MS Dhoni is dropped from the annual contract list

Not the end of the road yet for MS Dhoni

While many think that MS Dhoni is now unlikely to play for India again and feature in the T20 World Cup, the 38-year old could still play for the Men in Blue. According to rules, if a player is omitted from the Central Contracts list, it does not mean that he can not play for India. The annual retainer contract is based on the number of games a player plays in that particular format and it assures them a sum of money for that particular season.

Dhoni can be included in the Indian cricket team on a pro-rata basis and thus he can very well make a comeback to the team. Pro-rata means Dhoni might get paid a proportion of his previous contract fee on a match-by-match basis. India head coach Ravi Shastri has made it clear that Dhoni could be contention for the T20 World Cup if he does well in the IPL.

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