Between the reports of his retirement, former Indian captain and Wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday made it clear that he was not available for the Caribbean tour. Dhoni is also the Honorary Lieutenant Colonel in the Parachute Regiment of the Territorial Army and he will spend his next two months with his regiment.
A senior BCCI official told about this. The BCCI official told PTI that Dhoni has told himself to be available for the West Indies tour and he will spend two months with his regiment. Dhoni, 38, gave information to the selection committee before selecting the Indian cricket team for the Caribbean tour on Sunday.
The BCCI official clearly said that Dhoni will not say goodbye to cricket at the moment. The official said that I want to say three things about Dhoni. First of all they will not do goodbye to cricket at the moment. Secondly, they are taking two months' rest so that they can spend time with their regiment. Dhoni had already made the commitments for this. Thirdly, we have told the team captain Virat Kohli and the selection committee chief MSK Prasad about his decision.
After refusing to go to the West Indies tour, it is clear that in the absence of Team India, the first choice as the wicketkeeper for all three formats of cricket will be Rishabh Pant. For the Test, Riddhiman Saha could probably be included in the team as the reserve wicketkeeper. India has to play three T20, three ODIs and two Test matches against the West Indies.
