Speculation about the future of Indian wicket-keeper and former captain MS Dhoni continues to foment after the 38 year old made himself unavailable for the domestic one-day competition, the Vijay Hazare Trophy that started this week, and the forthcoming Bangladesh T20I series.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, to give the player his full name, has not played cricket since the World Cup, choosing to sit out India’s tour of the West Indies In favour of doing a spell of military service in conflict-torn Kashmir in his role as an honorary colonel in the Territorial Army.
He was due to return to the field in mid-September, but has since chosen to extend his sabbatical further, meaning that he will now miss the whole test series with South Africa, although, in reality, he would most likely only have been in contention for a place in the T20Is.
He is currently scheduled to be available by December when the West Indies arrive in India to play a three match T20I series, but rumours about an imminent retirement for the one of the most popular cricketers ever to play for India show no sign of letting up.
If this is to the end of the road for Dhoni, it will mark the end of a glittering international career, which has seen him play in 90 test matches, 350 Odis, and 98 T20Is. He also captained the side between 2008 and 2014, becoming India’s most successful captain of all time, before that record was broken by his successor in the role, Virat Kohli.
Arguably his greatest success as captain came in 2011, where he led his side to victory in the World Cup played in the West Indies, playing a starring role in the final against Sri Lanka, making a man of the match innings of 91 not out. Four years later he guided his side to the semi-finals in the 2015 version of the tournament, held in Australia and New Zealand.
At test level he scored nearly 5,000 runs for his country at an average of just over 38, scoring 6 test centuries and 33 half-centuries, with his highest score coming in the 2012 -2013 series against Australia, when he made 224 in Chennai. He also scored 10 ODI centuries, with his highest score coming towards the start of his international career, making 183 not out from 210 balls against Sri Lanka in Jaipur of 2005.
He also leads the world in terms of stumpings, with his 123 in all competitions, putting him well clear on the all-time list of the next name, Kumar Sangakkara, who finished his international career with 99.
