"MS Dhoni won't play for India again" - Former India captain set for international retirement in 2020?

From the time 2011 World Cup-winning captain, MS Dhoni decided to take a break from playing the shorter formats last year, there has been immense speculation about his future -- will he ever make a comeback at the highest stage of world cricket?

Sportskeeda has reliably learnt that Dhoni has told his friends and family that his desire to play international cricket is all but over, even though he will continue to play the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for a season or two.

At 38, Dhoni doesn't see the logic in playing for the country when there are other contenders, who are more suitable for his spot on the national team.

"Officially, he is yet to have a word with the BCCI officials, but he has revealed his mind to his close friends. When time comes, he will reveal it all," a top source said.

However, sources close to the CSK captain maintained that Dhoni hanging up his boots, without assessing his form in the IPL, isn't going to happen anytime soon.

"Otherwise, he would have announced his retirement a long time ago," the source emphatically said.

With a big question mark over IPL happening anytime soon due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, even Dhoni's childhood coach Keshav Ranjan Banerjee sounded optimistic about his student finding a place in India's Men's T20 World Cup squad.

"In the current scenario, IPL looks unlikely and we will have to wait for BCCI's call. His (Dhoni's) position will become tough obviously. But my sixth sense says he will get a chance in the T20 World Cup, which will be his last," Banerjee was quoted as saying in the media on Friday.

But the board officials say that Dhoni hasn’t announced his retirement from international cricket, because of his multi-crore commercial deals. Dhoni also isn't in a hurry to announce his retirement, because of his T20 commitments for CSK.

Dhoni opted out of South Africa series: Sources

Dhoni hasn't shown any inclination to play for India and it was known by the BCCI officials when a selector had contacted him before the home series against South Africa.

Sources said that a BCCI selector contacted him a day before picking the T20 squad, regarding potential availability. However, at around 11 PM, Dhoni communicated to the selector that he won't be available for the bilateral series last September.

Surprisingly, the selector in question has denied his involvement in communicating with Dhoni during that specific tenure. The selector had said that he met Dhoni in person during the World Cup as well as after the tournament to understand his plan of action.

But in reality, none from the team management nor the BCCI, barring a few cricketers, had met Dhoni in person. To this day, sources say that Dhoni is yet to communicate his plan of action.

The selectors and the BCCI are still not sure if Dhoni will be available for India's World T-20 squad selection later this year. However, the former India captain has managed to keep himself fit with regular exercise and net sessions for the IPL.

Will the selectors still back him without his IPL form and fitness? Or will the selectors pick Dhoni on reputation despite his reluctance to play for the country?

Even Sunil Gavaskar has said that Dhoni should silently retire from the game. He had also indicated that it would be very difficult for Dhoni to find a place in the India squad for the T20 World Cup.

“Dhoni has been eliminated from BCCI's annual list of contractual players earlier this year and he also knows that he won’t play for India again,” the BCCI source added.

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