MS Dhoni decides not to travel West Indies; to serve his army regiment for next two months

MS Dhoni decides not to travel West Indies for the limited overs series; to serve his army regiment for the next two months

As per the latest reports, former Team India skipper has decided not to travel West Indies to partake in the limited overs series, set to begin from August 3 with the three-match T20 series.

Ever since India’s semi-final exit from the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, the discussions, debates, speculations, conjectures and everything associated even with his post retirement plans have become one of the burning issues across the Indian Cricket fraternity.

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Previous reports had also suggested that the 38-year-old has made himself unavailable for the tour of West Indies, where the team will take part on three T20Is and three ODIs. Also, he was expected to be a part of the transition phase which will see a new player take up his role.

Dhoni to spend better part of the next two months with his regiment

An Honorary Lieutenant Colonel in the Parachute Regiment of the Territorial Army, it is learnt that Dhoni will be spending better part of the next two months with his regiment. A top BCCI official confirmed the development.

“Dhoni has made himself unavailable for the tour of West Indies as he will be spending two months with his paramilitary regiment,” the official told the news agency,PTI.

As per the official, Dhoni had given the intimation to the selection committee pertaining his aforementioned decision before the team selection for the West Indies Tour, all set to take place on Sunday (July 21).

Dhoni not retiring from Cricket at the moment- Source

The source has clearly stated that the veteran has no immediate plans for retirement at the moment, as was also confirmed by his long-time friend and business partner- Arun Pandey on Friday.

“We would like to say three things. He is not retiring from cricket right now. He is taking a two month sabbatical to serve his paramilitary regiment which he had committed much earlier,” he said.

“We have now intimated his decision to skipper Virat Kohli and chairman of selectors MSK Prasad,” the senior official added.

With Dhoni pulling out of the tour, Rishabh Pant is expected to be first wicket-keeper in all three formats while Wriddhiman Saha will also be a choice in the Test arena.