India cricket team’s coach Ravi Shastri has quashed all social media talk of MS Dhoni retiring over an innocous moment following the third ODI against England. The cricketing world went into a tizzy with video grabs showing Dhoni taking the match ball from the umpire at the end of the third ODI against England at Headingley on Tuesday. With players generally taking the ball only after an impressive show, people started wondering if this was the end of the road for the Man with the Midas touch and whether he would call it a day. His act led many to believe that the veteran is going to retire – much like how he took the stumps following India and Australia’s Test draw in 2014. A few days later, he surprisingly announced retirement from the longest format of the game.
Dhoni asked for the ball from umpires Bruce Oxenford (Australia) and Michael Gough (England) as the teams walked back towards the pavilion. India lost the third ODI by 8-wickets and with that the series 2-1 for first bilateral series lost since 2016.
However, Shastri dismissed all speculation on Dhoni’s retirement on Wednesday. “MS wanted to show the ball to Bharat Arun. He wanted to show him the wear and tear the ball had endured, to get a general idea of what the conditions were like,” Shastri clarified.
“That’s rubbish. MS is not going anywhere,” Shastri confirmed.
Dhoni had come under fire during the England ODI series for slow scoring rate. His 59-ball 37 runs at Lord’s in the second ODI frustrated many fans with some in attendance even booing him.
