President-elect of the BCCI Sourav Ganguly has said that he intends to speak to the Indian selectors about the situation of MS Dhoni before he gives his views on the future of the former international captain.
Dhoni has not played international cricket since India lost their World Cup semi-final to New Zealand in June in England. He later spent two weeks in the Indian Army in his role as a reservist, and then chose to miss the Indian tour of the West Indies at the end of the summer.
Since then, speculation about the future of Dhoni has raged with everybody involved with Indian cricket appearing to have an opinion.
38 year old Dhoni made his international debut for the national side in an ODI in 2004, playing his first test against Sri Lanka a year later. He then went on to score nearly 5,000 test runs at an average of 38.09, and claimed 256 catches. He has also been a prolific player in the shorter forms of the game, playing 448 ODIs and T20s, scoring more than 12,000 runs, and taking 378 catches.
He is the first player to pass the 10,000 run mark in ODIs, with an average of more than 50. He is also the first wicket-keeper to take more than 150 international stumpings across all three formats of the game.
Dhoni captained the Indian side between 2008 and 2014, when he stepped down to be replaced by Virat Kohli. Under his leadership, India won the 2007 ICC World Cup Twenty20, the 2010 and 2014 Asian Cups, the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy.
He also became the first player to win the ICC ODI Player of the Year award twice in 2008 and 2009, and has been selected a record number of six times in World Cup ODI teams, five times as captain. He has also been recognised for his contribution to sport by the Indian government –in 2009, he was awarded the fourth highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri. Last year, the third highest honour, the Padma Bhushan was also bestowed on him.
Amidst all the rumours about his future, Dhoni himself has remained tight-lipped, and has refused to reveal what his own immediate plans are – at least in public. However, the decision may be able to be taken out of hands. India’s T20 squad for the home series with Bangladesh will be announced in Mumbai in a week’s time, and, if Dhoni’s name is not included, it may signal the end to what has been a glorious international career.
