Ever since Mahendra Singh Dhoni got run out in the first semi-final of the ICC World Cup 2019 against New Zealand and India lost the match by 18 runs, speculation is rife over his retirement. It was expected prior to the big event that the ace wicketkeeper-batsman would hang up his boots after it concludes. But Dhoni did not retire after India’s campaign came to an end and still, he hasn’t called it a day in the limited-over formats although he hasn’t been picked for the recent West Indies tour and the upcoming home series against South Africa.

Meanwhile, a tweet from captain Virat Kohli on Thursday reminding a game against Australia in the 2016 World T20 sparked speculation about Dhoni’s retirement. He hailed Dhoni’s running capacity in the tweet saying in that game, the former captain had made him run like in a fitness test. The Twitterati was left guessing whether Kohli’s sudden tweet about Dhoni was hinting at the Ranchi cricketer’s impending retirement.

A game I can never forget. Special night. This man, made me run like in a fitness test 😄 @msdhoni 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/pzkr5zn4pG

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) September 12, 2019

 

However, chairman of India’s selection panel MSK Prasad later buried the speculation saying any news about the 38-year-old’s retirement was not true. Prasad, a former India keeper-batsman, has been asked time and again about Dhoni’s retirement and till now, he has maintained that there is no true intimation about the latter’s retirement.

The Indian selectors decided to look beyond Dhoni keeping in mind the T20 World Cup in Australia next year and focused more on young players like Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson. However, at the same time, they honoured Dhoni’s decision to quit as per his own convenience. The former World Cup-winning captain made himself unavailable for the West Indies series as he went for military training.

"No update on MS Dhoni's retirement, the news is incorrect."
– MSK Prasad, Chief Selector.

Now expecting to see some Breaking News or Headlines in some papers/media that "#Dhoni dropped from #IndvSA Test Squad". 😀

— Prabhu (@Cricprabhu) September 12, 2019

 

India will play the Proteas in a three-match T20I series starting September 15. The first match will be played in Dharamsala while the second and third games will be played in Mohali and Bengaluru on September 18 and 22. The two teams will also play in a three-Test series after that. The hosts announced their 15-man squad for the Test series and KL Rahul was dropped from the squad while Shubman Gill got his maiden Test call.