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Dhoni back in the nets. Photo Credit: BCCI.

While the former Indian World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni is currently not in the international cricket action, former Indian cricketer Venugopal Rao has opened up his feeling on Dhoni’s future.

After the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 semi-final, MS Dhoni hasn’t played a cricket match yet. While Dhoni has been not involved in a cricket match since that global tournament knock-out exit, there is high speculation about his international retirement.

MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni (Image Credit: AP)

Due to inactive from the game, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has excluded MS Dhoni from the latest central contract. Moreover, neither Dhoni nor the board has openly clarified about his future in international cricket. However, the BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has claimed that the Indian captain Virat Kohli is aware of Dhoni’s future plan.

MS Dhoni (Image Credit: AP)

Indian Head Coach Ravi Shastri has also hinted that Dhoni may take his ODI retirement soon while his future T20I participation will depend on his performances in the IPL 2020. Shastri hinted that Dhoni might extend his T20I career till the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 that will be played in Australia between 18th October and 15th November 2020.

MS Dhoni is a valuable player for any ICC tournament: Venugopal Rao

In a recent interview with Sportstar, Venugopal Rao feels that MS Dhoni has not only the ability to feature in the forthcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, but he should also play in the next ICC Cricket World Cup in 2023. Rao believes that the 38-year-old Dhoni is a valuable player for any ICC tournament and it will be not difficult for him to make a comeback soon.

Venugopal Rao (Image Credit: Twitter)

The Director of Cricket Operations in Andhra Cricket Association, Venugopal Rao told Sportstar, “Definitely. He should also play the 50-over World Cup which will happen in India in 2023. He is a valuable player for any ICC tournament. I know he didn’t play after the World Cup semifinal last year but it is not difficult for him to come back.

“He is Dhoni. He knows how to handle these things. A guy who has all the ICC trophies. Nobody else is close to him as a captain or a wicketkeeper-batsman.”

Out of his 16 ODIs between 2005 and 2006, Venugopal Rao has played 15 matches with MS Dhoni.