Ravi Shastri wants Dhoni’s retirement speculators: The Indian coach has called for more patience regarding the legendary cricketer’s retirement.
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Much like the rest of the country, India coach Ravi Shastri has also expressed admiration for BCCI President Sourav Ganguly. The former captain successfully conducting the historic day-night Test match with the pink ball at Eden Gardens hints at him making significant changes during his tenure.
Speaking in an interview with IANS, Shastri hailed Ganguly’s appointment as the President of the BCCI. Shastri further laid emphasis on a former cricketer taking up the post.
“I think it is fantastic. I was one of the first to congratulate him [Sourav Ganguly] when he became the President because I was delighted that more important than anything a BCCI was back in place to put Indian cricket where it belongs both on and off the field.
“And I was even more delighted that a cricketer should be at the helm at this important phase of Indian cricket. Sourav having been a fabulous player and captain and been around as an administrator, him becoming the President adds a lot of value,” Shastri was quoted as saying.
Ravi Shastri wants Dhoni’s retirement speculators to wait till IPL 2020
Opening up on former captain and veteran wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s much-speculated retirement, Shastri opined that the decision is likely to depend on Dhoni’s performance in the next season of the Indian Premier League.
“It all depends on when he [MS Dhoni] starts playing and how he is playing during the IPL. What are the other people doing with the wicket-keeping gloves or what is the form of those players as opposed to Dhoni’s form. The IPL becomes a massive tournament because that could be the last tournament after which more or less your 15 is decided [for the ICC T20 World Cup 2020].
“There might be one player who might be there and thereabouts in case of an injury or whatever. But your team I would say would be known after the IPL. What I would say is rather than speculating of who is where, wait for the IPL to get over and then you are in a position to take a call on who are the best 17 in the country,” Shastri said.
As far as competitive cricket is concerned, the 38-year old cricketer had last played during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Dhoni had missed the West Indies tour due to his training for the parachute regiment of the Indian Army in Kashmir valley.
While there was no official reason why Dhoni missed the home T20Is against South Africa, it was reported that he was unavailable for the Bangladesh T20Is as well. The 38-year old cricketer is not a part of the recently announced ODI and T20I squads for the home series against West Indies.
