The speculations over MS Dhoni’s future in the Indian cricket team have been making headlines for quite some time. The former Indian captain last played for the side in the 2019 World Cup, where India crashed out in the semifinal.
Since then, Dhoni has made himself unavailable for the tour to the West Indies, as he served the Territorial Army in Jammu & Kashmir during the time.
The wicketkeeper-batsman later opted out of the T20I series against South Africa as well, with 21-year-old Rishabh Pant succeeding him in both the series.
As the suspense over Dhoni’s future continues, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has opined on the player. Gavaskar, who is known for not mincing his words, maintained the reputation as he believes Dhoni should announce his retirement before he is “pushed out” of the side.
“Dhoni's time is up. With due respect, the time has come. India should look beyond. With the greatest of respect to Dhoni, I think he should be going without being pushed out,” Gavaskar told India Today.
Indian captain Virat Kohli, however, has maintained that Dhoni’s experience in invaluable to the Indian team, and that both, the team management and Dhoni are ‘on the same page’ over his future.
“Look, experience is always going to matter whether you like it or not. I mean there are a numerous number of times people have given up on sportsmen, and they have proved people wrong, and he has done that many times in his career as well. So one great thing about him is that he thinks for India cricket. And whatever we think, he is on the same page. The alignment is there. The kind of mindset he has had is to groom youngsters and give them opportunities,” Kohli had said.
Recently, Virat Kohli posted a throwback picture with MS Dhoni from the 2016 T20 World Cup, where India had beaten Australia in the group game. However, it was misunderstood by a large section of fans as a tribute to Dhoni, and rumours began over his retirement. Chief Selector MSK Prasad later denied the rumours, stating that there is no update over his future.
