A million dollar question

It has not even been a week since India were knocked out of the World Cup and retirement of Mahendra Singh Dhoni has started doing the rounds.

Retirement talks

There are multiple reasons for the retirement talks to be floating around. With M.S. Dhoni turning 38 this July, Indian team management along with the selection committee would want to blood young wicket keeper Rishabh Pant for the tour of West Indies next month. There is no big multi national tournament till the T20 World Cup next year. With only bilateral tournaments in the shorter formats till then the BCCI and the selection committee are in a catch twenty two situation regarding carrying on with senior pro.

M.S. Dhoni has always kept his cards close to the chest. He took everyone by surprise by announcing his sudden retirement from test cricket in 2015.The selection committee would definitely want to know his future plans so as to plan accordingly for the next World Cup. M.S. Dhoni has yet to take call and the team for the tour of West Indies would be announced in forty eight hours.

Communication the way forward

What are the options left for everyone. The selectors can speak to Dhoni and ask him whether he would be going to West Indies. They can also tell him to rest and pick Rishabh Pant for the tour. This would give time for Dhoni the time to think over and decide his future. If push comes to shove the selection committee can tell Dhoni that they are looking into the future and Dhoni does not fit into their scheme of things and they are looking at Rishabh Pant going forward. This might force Dhoni to hang his boots.

Team management hold the key

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are two important people the selectors would want to consult before taking a call. With both of them starting their careers under Dhoni they would think twice before taking any drastic step. With the Indian middle order being so weak and players like Dinesh Karthik and Kedar Jadhav not performing, the Indian team would still want Dhoni to continue for some time till the new bunch of youngsters find their feet.

Time is running out for Dhoni. Whether he will surprise everyone like he did in 2015 or play for some more time to give stability to the middle order is the biggest question that the whole country would want an answer for.