No MS Dhoni For T20 WC? India Batting Coach Confirms Team Has Already Identified Core For The Tournament

India batting coach Vikram Rathour on Tuesday stated that the team management has already identified the core of players for this year’s T20 World Cup in October-November. Vikram Rathour’s comment effectively rules out MS Dhoni’s chances of playing in the marquee event.

While MS Dhoni has not played for India since the end of the World Cup in July last year, hopes are high that he would be a part of the team for the T20 World Cup. A few weeks ago, India head coach Ravi Shastri said that while the veteran wicketkeeper could retire from ODIs soon, he could play the T20 World Cup if he does well in the IPL.

However, if Vikram Rathour’s comment is anything to go by then one can say that MS Dhoni is unlikely to play in the upcoming tournament. Speaking ahead of the third T20I against New Zealand, the batting coach stated that the core of the team is already identified and only an injury or ‘really bad form’ could see a new player get a chance.

“Adjustments will keep going on till the last minute. But as far as I am concerned and the team management is concerned, we have the core. We know what our team is going to be. Unless there is a case of injury or really bad loss in form, I don’t see many changes happening,” said Rathour.

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With one eye on T20 World Cup in Australia, India have been on experimentation mode since the start of the home season in September last year, giving opportunities to host youngsters including Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar and Shivam Dube.

What can make things worse for Dhoni is KL Rahul’s emergence as wicketkeeper-batsman. While Rahul has been in red-hot form with the bat for quite some time now, he has also started wicketkeeping. The way he is performing at the moment, the chances of any other player taking the wicketkeeping duties especially in T20Is are very bleak. With Rahul now all but set to keep the wickets, it is highly unlikely that the selectors would name MS Dhoni in the team as a backup ahead of Rishabh Pant.