Former India captain and president of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Sourav Ganguly has made a big revelation. He has publicly stated that, according to his knowledge, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has told Virat Kohli and the selectors of Indian team about his future plans.
"He (Dhoni) has had communication with the captain, I am sure he has had communication with the selectors, and I don't think this is the platform to discuss about it," Dada said in an interview.
The BCCI president also emphasized the need to respect Dhoni's own decisions rather than forcing anything upon him. "It's his (Dhoni's) decision what he wants to do, but I don't know. I haven't spoken to him, but he's a champion. He's been an absolute champion in Indian cricket ... You won't get another MS Dhoni very, very soon. But what he does, whether he wants to play, whether he doesn't want to play, is up to him," the Prince of Kolkata asserted while talking to India Today network.
Since becoming the BCCI chief, Ganguly has always maintained that MSD's own decisions regarding his career would be respected. This may be a result of the fact that he himself felt slighted and mistreated way back in 2008 when he was forced to retire from international cricket. Many felt that Dada had enough cricket left in him to play some more.
Ganguly has, on several occasions, made his own displeasure and regret over this issue well known. However, the matter of MS Dhoni has become a little more complicated with the wicketkeeper-batsman maintaining a stoic silence on the issue since the World Cup semi-final that India lost.
Initially, he opted to take a sabbatical leave from international cricket and spend some days training with an Indian army unit in Ladakh. Afterwards, nothing has been heard from the 2011 World Cup-winning skipper except the odd Instagram post which is usually about his daughter.
There were rumours that Dhoni would join the commentary team during the first-ever day-night Test match held in India in Kolkata, along with several other famous names from past Indian teams. But that didn't come to fruition.
If indeed Virat Kohli and the selectors are aware of Mahi's plans, then there are several possibilities as to what they are. Both Dhoni and Kohli may be monitoring the progress of Dhoni's replacement Rishabh Pant to see if he gets settled in the team by the time 2020 World T20 comes around. Perhaps, if Pant doesn't make his place in the side certain, MSD could come back for that tournament. As of now, one can only speculate.
