MS Dhoni not part of India’s T20I squad for Australia and West Indies series

MS Dhoni has been dropped from India’s T20I squad for both the Australia and the West Indies series.

Dhoni who has been a regular feature of the Indian limited overs setup post his retirement from Test cricket has been dropped in order to test out the second keeper slot going into the all important 2019 World Cup.

The move from the selection committee is a bold one, as it is not easy to drop a senior player from the Indian cricket team, especially when it is someone of the stature of MS Dhoni.

Dhoni’s batting performances have been pretty meek this year, as he has failed to perform in South Africa, England and during the Asia Cup.

While his contribution to the team as a wicketkeeper and an advisor to Kohli is important, his terrible form with the bat cannot be overlooked.

Virat Kohli has been rested for the India-West Indies T20 series, but will return to captain the side in the T20Is against Australia.

Rohit Sharma will captain India during the T20I series against Windies.

Shahbaz Nadeem finds a spot in the squad, owing to his superlative performances in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy.

India T20I squad for #INDvWI – Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Umesh Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem

— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) October 26, 2018

India T20I squad for #AUSvIND – Virat Kohli(c), Rohit Sharma(vc), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed

— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) October 26, 2018

“Dhoni’s not going to play the 6 T20Is because we’re looking at the second keeper slot. It is not the end of Dhoni in T20Is. M Vijay had been dropped from England, but he went back to counties and performed and showed his intent.” MSK Prasad said.