Published 14:05 IST, March 20th 2020
MS Dhoni will 'silently' retire from cricket, India have moved on from him: Sunil Gavaskar
Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar predicted that MS Dhoni will 'silently' retire from the game. MS Dhoni last played for India at the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
Seasoned Team India campaigner and wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni was last seen representing the Men in Blue at the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup in England. Quite surprisingly, the 38-year old has been on a break from international cricket ever since India’s shocking semi-final exit from the tournament. While he was all set to resume playing professional cricket by leading Chennai Super Kings in the upcoming Indian Premier League 2020 (IPL 2020) season, his return was further delayed due to the tournament’s postponement in wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
MS Dhoni to retire “silently”, predicts Sunil Gavaskar
IPL 2020 was touted as a tournament that could have paved the way for MS Dhoni into the national team. Even Team India head coach Ravi Shastri earlier implied that the performance of the esteemed former captain in the IPL would determine his chances of making the squad for the T20 World Cup squad in Australia. While the commencement of IPL 2020 was delayed until further notice, retired cricketer Sunil Gavaskar said that he certainly wants to see Dhoni in the T20 World Cup setup.
However, Sunil Gavaskar also said that MS Dhoni’s return is unlikely to happen because the team has already moved on with other options. About India “moving on”, the legendary batsman was most probably referring to the likes of Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul since the duo kept wickets for India in Dhoni’s absence. While speaking with a leading Indian news daily, Sunil Gavaskar also predicted that Dhoni is not someone who will make a grand announcement about his future and would rather prefer to silently retire from the game.
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A glance at MS Dhoni's career
MS Dhoni debuted in 2004 and has been a mainstay for India behind wickets since then. He rose to further prominence when he was appointed as captain in 2007 and led India to World Twenty20 victory in South Africa the same year. While he is widely considered as the greatest wicketkeeper-batsman of all time, Dhoni remains the only captain in the world to have achieved peak success in all ICC events.
Updated 14:05 IST, March 20th 2020