The deadly Coronavirus has brought the entire world to its knees. Italy and China are the most suffering nations, and the WHO has declared Covid 19 as pandemic. Due to the massive outbreak, many sports events have been cancelled, and quite a few may get affected further if the situation doesn’t change.
In October later this year, Australia is supposed to host the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Assuming if everything goes right and the mega event takes place, then Indian fans would want to see their favourite MS Dhoni in the team.
But the big question is that on what grounds MSD will be picked? The reason behind this question is that Dhoni last featured for India during a semi-final clash with New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup. In November same year, the former Indian skipper gave hints about his comeback when he said, “January tak mat poocho (don’t ask me till January).”
India haven’t won an ICC tournament since 2013 Champions Trophy; therefore, it is necessary to have Dhoni’s presence in the team. In December last year, India’s head coach Ravi Shastri indicated Dhoni’s return but on the basis of his performance in the 2020 IPL.
“It all depends on when he starts playing and how he is playing during the IPL. What are the other people doing with the wicket-keeping gloves, or what is the form of those players as opposed to Dhoni’s form. The IPL becomes a massive tournament because that could be the last tournament after which more or less your 15 is decided,” Shastri told IANS.
At the start of the current month, Dhoni joined Chennai Super Kings (CSK) camp to brace up for the 13th edition of the lucrative league. However, the hopes of fans to see the ex-captain’s return to cricket came to an abrupt halt when the tournament was postponed till April 15 with no apparent signs yet on whether it will eventually be held or not.
On Tuesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation, to declare that the entire country will be under lockdown for the upcoming 21 days. Therefore, it is becoming ever more doubtful for the BCCI to hold the IPL from mid-April.
Basically, as far as the upcoming T20 World Cup is concerned, the fight is now directly between Coronavirus and MS Dhoni himself. While the deadly virus won’t affect Dhoni personally, but for now, the pandemic has already started impacting Dhoni’s career indirectly.
Now, If the IPL postponement converts into a cancellation, then India would be forced to continue with the young wicketkeepers duo of KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant. Also, if IPL doesn’t take place, then Dhoni doesn’t stand a chance of being selected. Just maybe he could’ve played some domestic games; then the situation would’ve been entirely different. But sadly, that didn’t happen.
Fans, however, would still be hopeful to see things getting back to normal, and a short IPL may take place around July. Just to make sure that Dhoni gets a fair chance to prove whether he’s going to make a comeback in the national side or not.
