he selection committee headed by MSK Prasad dropped a big surprise on Friday as former Indian captain MS Dhoni was not named in the squads for the T20I series against West Indies and Australia. Prasad revealed that Dhoni was not included as they are looking for a new second wicket-keeper but given that he only plays ODIs and T20Is now, Dhoni not getting a chance for the two series was a big surprise.
“The T20Is here and in Australia, he [Dhoni] is not going to play, because we are also looking at a second wicketkeeper. That will be between Rishabh and Dinesh Karthik. So they will be getting a chance to keep and bat,” Prasad had said.
Dhoni has played only seven T20I matches in 2018 and India’s next limited-overs series will be in January against Australia. In between, Dhoni has no option left to hone his batting skills in ODI format given Vijay Hazare Trophy is over and Deodhar Trophy has entered its final stage. The problem definitely doesn’t lie in his wicketkeeping skills – he has been better than ever with his job behind the stumps. But has failed to perform with the bat since his slump in form Champions Trophy 2017. This year, in ODIs, he averages 27.22 from 11 innings and in T20Is, it stands 41 from five matches.
Barring the selectors’ decision to play Pant and Karthik in finding secondary options fo Dhoni, the decision to rest the veteran can also be implied as a process to fade him out from the shortest format of the game.
While Karthik has been able to get the best out of himself in the shortest format, Pant’s potential and attacking prowess aren’t hidden from anyone. With this being the first instance of Mahi facing the axe from the Indian team, the question arises whether it is the start of the end of Mahendra Singh Dhoni?
