MS Dhoni will never be asked about his retirement, says BCCI official

MS Dhoni hasn’t yet called it quits in his international career and that has kept the debate ongoing. The 38-year-old ace wicketkeeper-batsman has kept everybody guessing over his retirement call. He made himself unavailable for selection for the limited-overs series in the West Indies as he went for military training. Dhoni has also been ignored for the upcoming T20I series at home versus South Africa and chief selector MSK Prasad has said that the former has made himself unavailable for that series as well.

It seems the questions over Dhoni’s future will not stop surfacing until the man himself decides to clear the mystery. The fans had expected that he would call it a day once India’s campaign at the ICC World Cup ended prematurely last month. He ended up as a tragic hero in the semi-finals following India’s narrow 18-run loss to New Zealand. But the retirement call never came.

Three players the selectors are zeroing on as keepers

The question is why Dhoni is not retiring and if not, then why isn’t he getting picked for the national team. But while people in power have shown respect towards Dhoni’s freedom of calling it quits whenever he wants, they have also decided to look beyond him, particularly with the T20 World Cup scheduled in Australia next year.

Soon after the Indian squad for the T20Is against the Proteas was announced, one BCCI official clearly put it that three keepers that the board is zeroing on in white-ball cricket are Rishabh pant, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan. “The three choices as white ball keepers are Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan,” Deccan Chronicle cited reports quoting the official as saying.

The reports also quoted the official as saying that the selection committee will never ask Dhoni about his retirement and that Pant is now the first-choice wicket-keeper in all the three formats.

“This selection committee is clear on one front. They will never ask any questions to Dhoni with regards to retirement as that’s not their domain. But till they are in charge, they reserve the right to select the squad and as far as they are concerned, Rishabh Pant is now India’s first-choice keeper across formats,” the official was quoted as saying.

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