The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) decision to drop MS Dhoni out of the Central Contracts for 2019-20 cricket season was comprehended as a big move by many fans across the globe. The fact that the 38-year-old hadn’t played a single cricket match since India’s ICC World Cup 2019 semi-final defeat to New Zealand, together with the lack of clarity over his international future, meant that the board didn’t have a reason to include him in the list of centrally contracted players.
Dhoni soon became the top trending topic on social media with many fans even reckoning as an unofficial retirement of the World Cup-winning skipper. A Times of India report, however, confirmed that Dhoni’s absence from the central contracts has nothing to do with his future in the Indian team as he can still play for the Men in Blue.
“But that doesn’t mean he won’t be considered for any selection in the future,” said a TOI source while asserting that the player’s lack of cricketing activity in the past 6 months made him ineligible for the central contract.
The TOI report also confirmed that Dhoni will not hang his boots till the conclusion of the 2020 IPL season and is expected to make himself available again – most likely only for the T20 format – as the countdown to the T20 World Cup in Australia starts. In such a case, the selectors would need to make a call based on his performance in the IPL and the state of affairs in the Indian team as far as the wicket-keeper’s role is concerned.
“Then it is up to the selectors and it is up to individual performances. What if he single-handedly takes CSK to victory in IPL? Won’t that matter? People should stop jumping the gun. His absence from the annual retainership doesn’t mean a thing,” the source revealed.
