The end nears for M S Dhoni

By not picking M S Dhoni for the Twenty20 series against the West Indies and Australia, the Indian selectors have made it clear that the great man’s days in national colours are numbered. Though national selection committee chairman M S K Prasad said that it was not the end of the road for Dhoni in the shortest format of the game, the writing on the wall is clear. India are slated to play 16 more One-Day Internationals before the ICC World Cup to be held in England and unless Dhoni raises his performance with the bat, the Men in Blue could feature a new wicketkeeper-batsman in the showpiece event next year.

The decision to drop Dhoni is a bold one and the selectors need to be applauded for not many dare to drop legends in Indian cricket. At 37, Dhoni is not getting any younger and he’s not the same force as he used to be with his big hits. True, he’s still sharp behind the wickets, supremely fit, and his experience and tactical inputs are priceless for the captain – whether it be Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma. But, T20 is primarily a young man’s game and with the exciting Rishabh Pant and the seasoned Dinesh Karthik in their ranks, it is fair to assume that India won’t miss much of Dhoni.

Dhoni has been a magnificent servant of Indian cricket. The man from Jharkhand has transferred India from a really good team to a great outfit in the shorter formats of the game. But his form post IPL 2018 has been patchy to say the least. No doubt he enjoys the confidence of Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri. But the rookie Pant has made most of the chances that have come his way in Test matches and he’s the one for future. Dhoni has always been a proud player and the great man would be the first to admit that the selectors have made the right call.

It would be interesting to see how Dhoni responds to the setback in the last three one-dayers against the West Indies in the ongoing series. The pressure on Dhoni is immense to say the least and he’s invariably thrived under tough situations. The big question is can Dhoni turn it around in the final stretch of his glorious career.