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The beneficiaries were Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed and Kuldeep Yadav. When Dhoni marshals the bowling resources and sets the field, the body language of skipper Virat Kohli resembles that of a student in front of his math teacher.
Despite his current batting woes, Dhoni remains one of the best T20 minds and a proven leader in the format. And the best strategic mind and reviewer of DRS when required. That brings us to the relevant question: Was it a wise decision to drop the valuable Dhoni from the T20s against West Indies at home and the away series in Australia? Did Dhoni himself ask for rest? Has Dhoni made up his mind to retire from international cricket after next year's 50-over World Cup in England? He has probably conveyed the decision to both Kohli and the selectors, who in turn wanted to give decent run to Rishabh Pant (and probably to Dinesh Karthik) as keeper-batsmen in T20s.
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In the past, Sachin Tendulkar's future as an ODI player was questioned when he started to pick and choose matches. But once he made it clear that he wouldn't play the 2015 ODI World Cup, the Sandeep Patilled selection committee had a clearer idea about grooming openers for future assignments.
That begs the question why Dhoni doesn't make it public that he intends to retire after next year's ODI World Cup. Maybe, that isn't the tradition in India. Dhoni is still a CSK player and captain of the reigning IPL champions. Remember Dhoni announced his Test retirement in the middle of a series in Australia in 2014, without prior warning.
Meanwhile, some old names will be representing India along with Rishabh Pant: Dinesh Karthik and Parthiv Patel, with Wriddhiman Saha still cooling his heels. For now, wicketkeepers KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan (picked as keeper in India 'A' teams) are long-term investments only.
from Times of India https://ift.tt/2Q668G0