Acknowledging the contributions of MS Dhoni to the Indian cricket, former India pacer Chetan Sharma believes that the wicketkeeper-batsman would now have to fight for a place in the Indian team.
Dhoni was longing to return to competitive cricket after a gap of more than eight months with the commencement of IPL 2020. But as the cash-rich league is postponed “indefinitely” due to the coronavirus outbreak, there have been quite a few debates on his future with an eye on the World T20, slated for the October-November window.
In an interview with Cricketaddictor, Sharma opined that Dhoni’s unavailability has raised questions in front of the selectors.
“No one can deny that Dhoni has contributed a lot to the Indian team. He has scaled heights across all formats and led the team to glory in all three major ICC tournaments. But, his unavailability for so long has raised questions in front of the selectors,” said Sharma.
Dhoni last played a competitive match was the World Cup semifinal against New Zealand in July last year. In his absence, Rishabh Pant donned the gloves for India until the Australia series at home wherein he got injured and the responsibility was handed to KL Rahul, who has so far excelled in the job.
“Due to his (Dhoni’s) absence, a couple of youngsters have cemented their place in the team. There is KL Rahul who has done exceptionally well in India’s recent outings. After that, Rishabh Pant is also in contention. So MS Dhoni will now have to fight for a place in the India team,” Chetan Sharma added.