Is MS Dhoni Eligible To Play The T20 World Cup After The Contract Snub?

In the wake of the BCCI’s decision to drop MS Dhoni from the central contract list, the doubt over the future of the former India skipper in international cricket has further increased. There are big question marks over his future for quite some time now although there is little clarity over the entire episode. MS Dhoni has not played any form of cricket for India or for his domestic team since the end of the World Cup in July.

Neither the team-management nor the BCCI has given any concrete update on MS Dhoni’s future. Recently, head coach Ravi Shastri tried to make things a bit clear by stating that MS Dhoni is likely to retire from ODIs soon but could be in contention to play the T20 World Cup if he does well in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

But the question that is now doing the rounds is: “Is MS Dhoni eligible to play the T20 World Cup after the contract snub?” Well, the answer is a big Yes. The former India skipper is very much eligible to play for India again and could play the T20 World Cup too if he earns a recall.

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MS Dhoni still eligible:

Exclusion from central contracts does not mean that a player cannot play for India and MS Dhoni is not an exception either. The recommendations for these contracts are made by national selectors based on a combination of performance in the previous year and the roles players are expected to play in the contract period. If someone outside of this list gets an India cap during the period, he becomes eligible for Grade C contract. The current contract runs from October 2019 to September 2020.

According to the BCCI rules, a player needs to play a minimum of two matches to be eligible to earn a Grade C contract. Thus all MS Dhoni now needs to do is to impress in the IPL and leave the rest on the selectors. A good outing in the IPL will all but seal his spot in the team for the T20 World Cup although one does not know what the player himself has in his mind.