MS Dhoni is 42 at the moment and is still striking the ball sweetly during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. It’s quite unbelievable to see how he, even with no cricket under his belt since the final of IPL 2023, is smashing the balls in all pockets of the ground.
With just a few days to go before the selection of India squad for the T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and the United States of America (USA), the players are giving their all. Among the wicket-keeper batters, there are a few players- Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, KL Rahul, or even Dinesh Karthik, who are knocking on the door. The one whose name still couldn’t be avoided in the selection is MS Dhoni.
Whatever the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) team management has planned for MS Dhoni, the veteran has delivered. In five innings so far, Dhoni is yet to be dismissed. He already has nailed 91 runs in 35 balls at a breathtaking strike rate of 260. Among the batters who have at least 15 balls under their belt during the last five overs, MS Dhoni has the second-best strike rate (260) among them.
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With the old look of long hair, and powerful muscles, the former India and CSK captain has turned the clock back. So, among the cricket fraternity, the question stands whether India could look to include MS Dhoni in this upcoming T20 World Cup. It’s been close to five years since he wore the India shirt during the 2019 ODI World Cup semifinal against New Zealand.
“We could see a wildcard entry in India’s T20 World Cup squad…MS Dhoni.” Varun Aaron pushed his ‘MS Dhoni wildcard’ in a discussion with Star Sports. “Actually, it’s the wildest card.”
“If he (MS Dhoni) says he wants to play the T20 World Cup, no one will deny him that chance.” Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan told Star Sports. “It may not happen, but no one will mind, no one will mind, no one will have a problem with it. The guy is batting so well.”
‘Who better than him?’- Sehwag opened up on the selection of MS Dhoni
The way MS Dhoni manages himself; it looks very unlikely to happen. However, he knows what it takes to win the trophy even with a young brigade. India will start their campaign against Ireland. Except for their game against arch-rivals Pakistan, all of their other group games against the hosts USA, and Canada shouldn’t be a tough one. If MS Dhoni gets picked, till the group stage, his job would be to keep, what he has been doing for CSK in this IPL 2024.
“MS Dhoni has a strike rate of over 250 and doesn’t have an average because he hasn’t been dismissed yet” Former India opener Virender Sehwag opened up on Cricbuzz. “The kind of schedule we have for the T20 World Cup, how many good teams will we be playing against? He won’t get to bat in the first round. Who better than him?”
Even though it’s been a week since his unbeaten four-ball 20-run knock, the whole country still seems to be drowned in that special moment. India’s T20 WC 2024 captain saw MS Dhoni closely playing that innings.
“It’ll be hard to convince MS, although he’s coming to the US, to do something else. He is into golf now.” Rohit expressed.
It will be really interesting to see which two wicket-keepers India selectors go for the T20 World Cup 2024. Will there be a ‘wildcard’ surprise?
