MS Dhoni has played his last game for India: Ashish Nehra feels the former skipper has nothing to prove
Former India pacer Ashish Nehra said he thinks MS Dhoni has played his last for India and IPL will have no bearing on his international career.
Dhoni took a sabbatical from cricket after 2019 ICC World Cup where Team India suffered a heartbreaking 18-run defeat at the hands of New Zealand.
It was being touted that Dhoni's performance at this year's IPL could help him seal a spot in the squad for T20 World Cup. However, due to coronavirus pandemic, the IPL was initially postponed indefinitely before BCCI finally deciding to host the tournament in UAE starting September 19.
While the T20 World Cup, which was scheduled to take place in Australia this year has been postponed for next year. The postponement of T20 WC raised doubts over Dhoni's comeback in the international cricket.
"As far as MS Dhoni's international career is concerned I don't think this IPL has anything to do with it. If you're a selector, you're a captain, you're a coach then the most important thing is that if he is ready to play, he will be my number one name on the list," Nehra said on Star Sports' show Cricket Connected.
"As much as I know MS Dhoni, I think he has played his last game for India happily. Dhoni has nothing to prove."
"And we all discuss these things as media people you can say because he has not announced his retirement, so that's where maybe I think he will take a call and only he can tell what's in his mind," he added.
When Dhoni last played for India in the World Cup semifinal against New Zealand, he was criticized by many for his slow innings, while Nehra said he was the last hope for the team progressing into the final.
"For me, M.S. Dhoni's game never came down. In the last game that he played, India had a chance of reaching the World Cup final till the time M.S. Dhoni was there and the minute he got run out everybody lost hope," Nehra recalled.
"So it shows where his game was even at that time. He knows how to run the team, he knows how to push youngsters forward and all these things I don't need to repeat again and again.
"I don't think this IPL makes any difference in M.S. Dhoni's stature or his aura as a player. I don't think a tournament like the IPL should be Dhoni's selection criteria, it's probably just a talking point," he added.
(With IANS Inputs)
