Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar feels Mahendra Singh Dhoni will silently walk into retirement as it is unlikely for him to make India’s T20 World Cup squad.
Dhoni hasn’t featured for India in any format since the semi-final loss against New Zealand in the 2019 ICC World Cup and his only chance of making an impression was the upcoming Indian Premier League season that has been postponed to April 15 due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
Gavaskar feels the IPL may be too little, too late for Dhoni to make a case for his inclusion.
“I would definitely like to see Dhoni in India’s World Cup squad but it’s highly unlikely that it is going to happen,” Gavaskar told Dainik Jagran.
“The team has moved on. Dhoni is not someone to make big announcements so I reckon he would silently retire from the game,” he added.
Dhoni returned from his cricketing exile last month to prepare for the IPL season with Chennai Super Kings. He was seen practicing in the nets in front of the fans at the Chidambaram stadium in Chennai. He also hit five consecutive sixes during one of the sessions to reignite talks of a possible comeback for the former Indian captain.
However, after the suspension of the IPL, Dhoni returned home from Chennai.
Coach Ravi Shastri had mentioned that Dhoni’s IPL performance may yet earn him a place in the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup, but with KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant in the fray, the idea of Dhoni’s return to the Indian side seems farfetched.