Former Indian captain and cricket legend Mahendra Singh Dhoni may be dropped from the Indian squad as he is not in the future plans of Team India, the Times of India reported. According to reliable sources quoted by TOI, Dhoni is not the same batsman that he used to be and MSK Prasad will speak to him about retirement so that he retires and youngsters get chances.
"We're surprised that he's not done it so far. There are youngsters like Rishabh Pant waiting to grab their chance. As we saw in the World Cup, Dhoni isn't the same batsman anymore. Despite coming in at No. 6 or 7, he was struggling to force the pace, and it was hurting the team," said a source from BCCI.
This source also stated that MSD has no chance of getting selected for the West Indies series as he is not an automatic pick anymore.
"I don't think he's in the selectors' plan for the 2020 T20 World Cup too. He must quit international cricket gracefully. He isn't an automatic pick any more," the anonymous official added.
He also mentioned that the board did not want to distract him before the World Cup talking about retirement but the time has come for the 38-year-old to take a call.
"We didn't want to distract him, and he too must have wanted the team, and himself, to be focused on the Cup. But the time to take a call is now. He has nothing left to achieve or prove in international cricket anymore."
The former Indian captain had to face a lot of criticism from cricket fans and former cricketers during the ICC Cricket World Cup for scoring at a slow rate during the death overs of matches. The World Cup-winning captain could not perform up to expectations as a finisher and it looked like age has taken a toll on him. Probably the time has come to say goodbye to, according to some, the greatest captain ever of Indian ODI cricket team.
