The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday announced the 15 man squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against South Africa slated to begin in Dharamshala on September 15.
The selectors have picked the squad which purely signaled the fact that they decided to stick with the winning combination which saw the Men in Blue thrash Windies by a 3-0 margin in Florida and Guyana.
MS Dhoni’s absence from the squad raised eyebrows over his future with the Indian team. Various reports suggested that the former Indian skipper may call time on his international career after the 2019 World Cup, but Dhoni is yet to open about his future.
While Rishabh Pant continues to maintain his place in the squad, speculations over Dhoni’s role in the Indian team have increased significantly.
MSK Prasad, the chief selector of the Indian cricket team, has now revealed the decision not to pick Dhoni for the T20I series against South Africa. Confirming the reports, Prasad told India Today, “Yes, he was unavailable for selection.”
Dhoni earlier opted out of the West Indies tour to take part in a 15-day stint with the Indian Territorial Army in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the 38-year-old’s assignment came to an end earlier this month.
There was no explanation on the reason behind Dhoni’s decision to keep himself unavailable for the series.
Team India will compete against the Proteas in three T20 internationals, at Dharamsala (September 15), Mohali (September 18) and Bengaluru (September 22). The T20I series will be followed by a three-match Test series, which will be a part of the ICC World Test Championship.
