Even as his Indian teammates are busy sweating it out ahead of the opening T20I against Australia in Brisbane on Wednesday, former India skipper MS Dhoni — not included in the T20I team for the Australia series — took time to fine-tune his footballing skills. Giving him company were none other than the likes of Ranbir Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan and Aparshakti Khurana among others. Part of a charity match in Mumbai, they were representing the All Stars Football Club.
Dhoni was earlier also left out of the T20I series against the Windies and while the team won the three-match T20I series comprehensively against West Indies, stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma still lamented the absence of veteran wicket-keeper MS Dhoni. Rohit said that it was a ‘big miss’ for the team and especially for the younger members of the squad.
{{/usCountry}}Dhoni was earlier also left out of the T20I series against the Windies and while the team won the three-match T20I series comprehensively against West Indies, stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma still lamented the absence of veteran wicket-keeper MS Dhoni. Rohit said that it was a ‘big miss’ for the team and especially for the younger members of the squad.
{{/usCountry}}“MS (Dhoni) was not part of the Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka also. MS not being in any team is a big miss. His presence in the team itself is a huge boost for a lot of the players, not just me, especially the younger players,” Rohit said.
A lot of controversy surrounded the decision to exclude MS Dhoni from the squads for the T20I series against West Indies and Australia. But, chief selector MSK Prasad cleared the air over the same.
He mentioned that Pant had been picked as a specialist batsman and that Dhoni is still the number one choice as the wicket-keeper.
“Yes, definitely (Pant selected as a batsman only) but if a need arises he will be the backup keeper,” Prasad said after the squad was announced.
“It is no brainer who is our No 1 wicketkeeper. In search of second wicketkeeper, we have given opportunities to DK and right now we are giving an opportunity to Rishabh Pant. At an appropriate time, we will take a call as to who is the best among the two,” he added.