Anil Kumble, MS Dhoni

Former India skipper MS Dhoni has extended his break once again and is unavailable for the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh that will be played in the month of November, a report in Mumbai Mirror suggests.

Dhoni hasn’t played any competitive match since World Cup 2019, where India lost to Ne Zealand in the semi-final.

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As it was widely speculated, Dhoni did not travel with the team to the West Indies. Later, he also withdrew from the home series against South Africa. In between, there were rumours that Dhoni might retire from the game but that turned out to be false.

MS Dhoni Extends His Vacation, Unavailable For Home Series Against Bangladesh: Report 1
MS Dhoni. AP Photo.

It was expected that he might make himself available for the Bangladesh series but as per the report, he will not be part of the series. Dhoni is expected to make a return either for the West Indies series or Australia series next year that takes place next year. India also play Zimbabwe in three T20Is before Australia series.

The extended vacation also means that Dhoni will also be unavailable for Jharkhand in the Vijay Hazare Trophy that starts on September 24. Dhoni had played the List A tournament in 2015/16 and 2016/17 seasons but hasn’t played domestic cricket for past two years.

Ishan Kishan, who leads Jharkhand in Dhoni’s absence, is one of the candidates for the wicketkeeper’s job at Indian cricket team.

MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant
MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant. Reuters.

He can replace regular Rishabh Pant in the squad whenever the selectors will rest the youngster to manage his workload. He has been playing continuously since the tour of Australia last year and hasn’t got enough time to rest.

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After the third T20I against South Africa today, Rishabh will join the Delhi team in Vadodara to play Vijay Hazare Trophy. After his two-match stint there, he will rejoin India camp for the three-match Test series against South Africa that starts on October 2.

As for Dhoni, there is no such retirement news for now and he is only expected to take a call on his career when the team management has backups for Rishabh in white-ball cricket, a format where he is yet to fix his spot.