Batting legend and former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has said time is up for MS Dhoni in international cricket and that the senior national team should look beyond the World Cup winner in limited-overs cricket. Sunil Gavaskar’s comments come at a time when MS Dhoni’s international future has become a major talking point in Indian cricket. MS Dhoni has not played for India since the Cricket World Cup 2019 semi-final defeat to New Zealand. Dhoni made himself unavailable for selection for India’s tour of West Indies in August as he took a sabbatical to train with the Para Regiment of the Indian Army in Kashmir.
MS Dhoni is also not part of the Indian squad for the ongoing T20I series against South Africa. “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,” Sunil Gavaskar told India Today. While selection committee chairman MSK Prasad had reiterated his stance on the MS Dhoni’s international future, saying “the legendary player” knows when to call it quits, the India captain and the team management have backed the veteran wicketkeeper.
Virat Kohli, while speaking to Star Sports ahead of the South Africa series, also said retirement decisions are purely personal while insisting MS Dhoni is still “very valuable” to Indian cricket. Speculations were rife about MS Dhoni’s retirement earlier this month after Virat Kohli came up with a cryptic tweet but the skipper rubbished rumors. “Look, the 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 (Dhoni) has done that many times in his career as well.
As long as he is available and continues to play, he is going to be very valuable,” Kohli had said. “When you decide to stop playing is an absolutely individual thing, and no one else should have an opinion on it, that’s what I think,” he said. In the absence of MS Dhoni, Rishabh Pant has got the backing from the team management and the selectors to don the gloves across all formats of the game. Chief selector MSK Prasad also said ahead of the West Indies tour that India is looking at giving Pant more opportunities, with the thought of looking ahead when it comes to limited-overs cricket.
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