We all expect retirement of M.S. Dhoni from all forms of the game. This debate has raised many questions as he was India’s prolific run getter in one day matches. Dhoni was speculative about his retirement but the selectors ignored him and he could not get a call for the home series against South Africa and West Indies. He had said not to ask him questions about his international future till January 2020 during an interaction with the press last year. While India’s selectors have indicated that they are moving on and have put their faith in Rishabh Pant in T20 cricket, Dhoni’s game sense, acumen and unmatched reflexes as a wicket keeper continue to make a case for him.
No one will voluntarily retire from the cricketing field as the stakes are very high and the players get huge amount of money if they are able to get a central contract in any of the three categories. Thus the long list of Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Zaheer Khan now people are taking about Dhoni’s retirement from all forms of cricket. It is time for Indian players to perform or perish and not bask in the past glory all the time.
BCCI President Ganguly said he will speak to selectors about the former captain’s future. Former India skipper Dhoni, 38, has been away from international cricket since India’s exit from the World Cup after losing the semi-final clash to New Zealand. Significantly, the former Indian captain’s retirement from international cricket has been a matter of debate in recent times with every cricketer giving their views. Incidentally, Dhoni kicked Ganguly out of the Indian side when the wicket keeper batsman was leading the team in all the three formats.
In 2008, Dhoni had not picked Ganguly and Rahul Dravid in the ODI squad for the tri-series in Australia, forcing Ganguly to return home when the Test-match leg of that tour ended. Now after 11 years, the tables have turned to some extent, with Ganguly in a position to influence the final stages of Dhoni’s career, which began in spectacular fashion on his watch.
Ganguly has always maintained that Dhoni would need to be clear about the road ahead and communicate that to the team management led by Virat Kohli, the captain, and Ravi Shastri, the head coach, and most importantly the selection panel. Now, bitter pill called retirement is to be administered soon and it is better to quit when people ask why and not quipped Why Not?
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
