MS Dhoni dropped for West Indies, Australia T20 series

MS Dhoni has been dropped from the T20I squads. (Source: File)

MS Dhoni has been left out from the Indian team’s T20I squads for the upcoming series against West Indies and Australia. While such a decision may signal a possible end to Dhoni’s career in the shortest format of the game, chief selector MSK Prasad has refuted any such claims. Young Rishabh Pant has been named as the first choice wicketkeeper by the selection panel, which met in Pune on Friday. Dinesh Karthik is the other wicketkeeping option for both the series.

Speaking on Dhoni’s exclusion, Prasad said that the decision was taken with an eye on the future regarding India’s wicket-keeping options and does not point to an end of Dhoni’s career. “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,” he said.

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Dhoni has not been in the best of forms in the recent outings against West Indies and this might have prompted the selectors to take the call. 37-year-old Dhoni’s glittering T20 career spans over a decade wherein he has played 93 matches and scored 1487 runs at a strike-rate of 127, including 54 catches and 33 stumpings. Dhoni also featured in all the eleven seasons of the IPL.

India Team for three T20I match series against Australia-

Virat Kohli (C), Rohit (vc), Shikhar, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish, DK, Rishabh Pant (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed.

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India Team for three T20I match series against Windies-

Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar, KL Rahul, DK, Manish, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Umesh Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem