The time is almost nearing when the fans have to bid good bye to their beloved captain MS Dhoni from the game. The former captain has scored 223 runs in seven games at a decent strike rate of 93 plus in the ongoing world cup for India but taking the scorecard into consideration, his slow innings has not helped India’s cause, especially in the game against England where he scored 42 off 31 balls. Some cricket experts including Gautam Gambhir and Sourav Ganguly had criticized him for his slow approach when India needed to fire all the cylinders in the game against England.
There are speculations that the veteran cricketer will appear in the national colours for the last time in the ongoing world cup. Dhoni successfully led India in 2007 World T20, 2011 world cup and 2013 champions trophy and nothing will be worthwhile than Dhoni playing his farewell game in the ongoing world cup final at the iconic Lord’s in London. 
It will indeed be an emotional moment for the fans and eyes are bound to shed tears on his departure from world and Indian cricket. Like India had a tagline of doing it for Sachin Tendulkar in 2011 world cup, it will now come down to Dhoni and the team will be eager to win the world cup for their favourite captain.
“You never know with MS Dhoni. But it is unlikely that he will continue to play for India after this World Cup. But since his decisions to quit captaincy from the three formats have been taken so suddenly, it is very difficult to predict at the moment,” Hindustan Times cited reports quoting a senior BCCI official.
The current selection committee led by MSK Prasad is likely to be in charge till the Annual General Meeting in October and will start preparing the ideal team for next year’s world T20 in Australia. Dhoni was dropped from the T20 squad that traveled to Australia last year and that can be an indication that the team management is not wanting to continue with the veteran till 2020.
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However, The BCCI and Indian team management are not ready to talk about the sensitive topics as long as the world cup is going on.
“The team management had to take a call in 2017 after the Champions Trophy. They decided that they will invest another two years in Dhoni till the 2019 World Cup. India have reached the semi-finals despite his lukewarm performances so he has been carefully shielded,” a former India player was quoted as saying.
“No one can ask him to retire but obviously he has got the drift that post World Cup, things won’t be the same.”
The possible scenarios
Taking the reports into consideration, MS Dhoni may get the much deserving farewell if India qualifies for the finals which will be an opportunity for the other players to win it for Dhoni. If India loses in the semi-finals, then it may prove to be his last game in the Bleed Blue jersey.
