MS Dhoni rebuffs any notions of retirement once and for all

India was eliminated from the World T20 2016 by the West Indies in the semi-finals at the Wankhede stadium, Mumbai after they chased down 192 with seven wickets in hand, thanks to a masterful 82* from Lendl Simmons.

In the post-match press conference, an Australian reporter asked MS Dhoni the now regular and must ask question of his retirement. Dhoni who looked cool and calm decided to have some fun with the reporter and asked him questions himself and made him say that Dhoni should not retire. This shows that whosoever is thinking that the skipper might step down from captaincy in ODIs or T20Is or might even retire from the game got their answers clearly in the perfect MS Dhoni way.

He indirectly said that he is super fit and is looking to lead India in the 2019 World Cup to be held in England, before hanging his gloves. Dhoni who is 34, retired from Test cricket in 2015, midway during the Australia Test series after saying that he had done all that could be done in Tests and now was the time to focus on ODIs and T20Is. India reached the semi-finals of the ICC cricket World Cup 2015, to be eliminated by Australia.

But the way, he handled the press conference after the West Indies defeat, he probably knows by now what types of questions will be asked by the reporters and now is getting cheeky with his answers. He has been dealing with the questions on retirement or leaving the captaincy since the last World Cup in 2015, which got intense after India lost to Bangladesh 2-1 in three-match series last year.

Dhoni also made sure to give a speech full of emotion and inspiration to the team players in the dressing room after their semi-final defeat, saying that this was just their 3rd defeat in last 16 T20Is and adorned them on their great performance. Even the team source said the speech was from a person who has decided on staying rather than from someone who has made up his mind of finishing his career.

Dhoni’s next international assignment will be a three-match T20I and ODI series against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe. But before that he will be leading the newest IPL franchise the Pune Rising Supergiants in their first ever IPL tournament, which will also give him a chance to show the critics that he is still fit and raring to lead team India into the World Cup of 2019.

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