T20 World Cup: BCCI Secretary Jay Shah Reached Out To MS Dhoni For The Mentor's Role: Reports

The BCCI ringed up a massive, unforeseen inclusion for the T20 World Cup as they roped in former captain MS Dhoni as the mentor for Virat Kohli‘s side. However, while as surprising as it was at the time of the announcement, on Wednesday evening, this idea of attaining the services of the 2007 T20 World Cup-winning skipper conjured up in BCCI Secretary Jay Shah’s mind about two months ago.

According to a recent report in India Today, Shah had “thought of making use of MS Dhoni’s experience” for the mega event this year a couple of months ago. He then approached to Dhoni, who had retired from international cricket last year, with the proposal of mentoring the Indian team throughout the T20 World Cup, which will be played post the second leg of the IPL 2021, both in the UAE.

The report further added that the Chennai Super Kings skipper agreed to the offer “after he received clarity about his role” on return to the national setup.

Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravi Shastri all happy to welcome MS Dhoni

After Dhoni had attested his approval, Shah approached captain Virat Kohli and vice-captain Rohit Sharma, who were also content with this idea of the BCCI Secretary. Finally, then, head coach Ravi Shastri, whose contract expires post the World Cup, was happy to grant his consent for having MS Dhoni as a mentor travelling with the side.

“Shastri welcomed the idea, saying he would be happy with Dhoni stepping in as the mentor and the team benefiting from the appointment,” the report said.

The other BCCI members had no qualms regarding the same and gave their nod to the BCCI Secretary before the official announcement was made.

India 15-man squad: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami.

Reserves: Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur

Also Read: Will Ravichandran Ashwin Play In The XI? Only Time Will Tell – Sunil Gavaskar Skeptical About The Off-Spinner’s Place In Playing XI