Dhoni fans must be mighty pleased with the new BCCI President Sourav Ganguly’s thoughts on their all-time favourite cricketer — Mahendra Singh Dhoni. On ascending the throne at BCCI as its President for the next 10 months at least, Ganguly said emphatically that the matter of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s future in international cricket will be addressed.
Ganguly has promised that the World Cup and T20 Worlds winning captain would be given all the respect. The BCCI prez may not have a direct say in selection, but he could always nudge the selectors in the general direction of doing justice towards the end of his career to the Jharkhand and Ranchi great Dhoni who also leads Chennai Super Kings and is an adopted son of Tamil Nadu.
Dhoni has taken a break from international cricket after India’s painful exit from the World Cup semi-final in England. There has been dark speculation about his future. But now That Dada is in charge, he may be able to ensure that Dhoni will get a proper farewell in an ODI or T20 whenever he states his wish to retire.
“You know champions don’t finish quickly. I don’t know what’s in his mind and what he thinks about his career. So we will deal with that you know,” Ganguly said. “He is one of the greats of the game and India is proud to have MS Dhoni over a period of time. If you even sit down and take a note of what he has done, you say, ‘Wow, MS Dhoni’,” he said.
Even more reassuringly, Ganguly said “Till I am around, everybody will be respected and that doesn’t change.” The selectors have been humming and hawing but they are not to be blamed either as Dhoni has been mostly silent about his plans. He would first have to make himself available for a domestic limited-overs tournament for him to be considered for matches against the West Indies coming up in the home season.
Ganguly knows a thing or two about how even legends can be badly treated when their career is winding down. He himself felt the axe under the Greg Chappell regime when he was unceremoniously sent packing because the coach didn’t believe he had a future. Dhoni’s case is different. He still has it in him to lend a steady senior hand in the desperate finishing situations in the white ball game.
So hang in there fans, Dhoni will wear India colours for a while more before he thinks it it’s time to hang up the gloves — the wicket-keeper’s as well as the batsman’s.
