MS Dhoni excluded from T20I squads; Twitteratis slammed selectors for ending his career

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who led India to their maiden—and only—T20 World Cup, has been dropped for the upcoming Paytm T20Is against the West Indies and Australia.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday took the cricket fans by surprise as it announced India’s T20I squads for the upcoming series against West Indies and Australia. Soon after the team was announced, one big name which went missing from both T20I squads was of former Indian captain MS Dhoni.

Indian captain Virat Kohli was rested from the upcoming series against West Indies. In Kohli’s absence, Rohit Sharma will lead the team.

It is to be noted that Dhoni, who has played 93 T20Is in his career so far – 11 less than what India have played overall – has scored 1487 runs and has effected 87 dismissals behind the stumps, apart from leading India to a title victory in the inaugural edition of the World T20 in 2007.

As soon as the team was announced, the first question comes in our mind: Did the selectors just quietly end MSD’s T20I career?

Here is a list of squad for Paytm T20Is against the West Indies and Australia respectively.

India squad for West Indies T20Is: 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, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Umesh Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem

India squad for Australia T20Is: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed

Twitteratis exploded at BCCI soon after the squads were announced. Many fans were of the view that it could be end of the road for the former Indian captain in the shortest format. Here are some of the reactions:

Wait. Did the selectors just quietly end MSD’s T20I career?

— Sidvee (@sidvee) October 26, 2018

END OF MAHi’s T20I Career?????#EndOfT20ICareer?? #OutFrom2T20ISeries @msdhoni pic.twitter.com/zqdmW152PB

— MiR AfZal (@MiROfficial10) October 26, 2018

What’s happening… MS Dhoni dropped from squad.. This is non sense utter nonsense….. #bringbackdhoni…. It hurts me more than anything else.

— Chinmaya Panda (@Chinmaya2414) October 26, 2018

India’s first T20I against the Windies is scheduled to be played on November 4 in Kolkata, followed by matches in Lucknow and Chennai on November 6 and November 11 respectively.

India’s tour of Australia gets underway with the first T20I to be played in Brisbane on November 21. The Melbourne Cricket Ground will host the second T20I on November 23 followed by the third and final T20I on November 25 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. India then play four Tests and three ODIs, with their Australian tour coming to an end on January 18, 2019.

Also Read: Will play MS Dhoni even if he was 80, in a wheelchair: AB de Villiers