Selectors Need To Communicate With MS Dhoni, Says Anil Kumble

With cloud of uncertainty hovering over the future of MS Dhoni, former India skipper and coach Anil Kumble has called on the national selectors to clearly communicate with the veteran cricketer.

Speculations were rife that Dhoni would retire at the end of the World Cup. However, the former India skipper left everyone surprised by not only deciding against retiring but also taking a two-month break. Consequently, he could not make it to the ODI or the T20I squads for the ongoing tour of West Indies.

And while everyone was expecting Dhoni to return to action in the upcoming series against South Africa, he made himself unavailable for this series too. Thus there is absolutely no clarity over Dhoni’s role and future in the team. With the T20 World Cup lined next year, Anil Kumble has called on the selectors to take a call on Dhoni.

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At the same time, Kumble also insisted that a player of Dhoni’s stature deserved a “proper send-off”. The legendary bowler also said that a situation similar to the World Cup should not be allowed to develop, where India failed to identify the ideal choice for the number four slot in the batting order.

“I think the selectors will have a take a call as to which is the likely team that you’d want in the World Cup because the World Cup is just a year away,” Kumble told Cricket Next. “You’d want a consistent team to be playing right throughout and that’s exactly what didn’t happen in the 50-over competition.

“There were a lot of changes leading up to the World Cup. We were still not sure about who that number 4 would be, the whole World Cup we kept on discussing who should bat at number 4, and that’s not what you want leading up to the 20-over World Cup. You’d want all those roles and responsibilities to be fixed and make sure that you have back-ups for certain positions, just in case somebody gets injured or if somebody’s out of form.

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“So, yes, there will be some discussions about an exit plan. But having said that, MS Dhoni certainly deserves a proper send-off, whenever he decides to move on from the sport. But for the team’s sake, the selectors need to sit down and have a discussion around what the plans are because it’s important that things be communicated,” he added.