New Delhi: After Yuzvendra Chahal ran riot with his 6-wicket haul in the final T20I against England, MS Dhoni was honoured with a ‘thank you’ gift by the BCCI in a rather cryptic fashion.
Dhoni, who has been one of India’s most successful captains ever, had decided to handover captaincy responsibilities to Virat Kohli on January 4 but had expressed desire to stay available for national selection.
The 35-year-old Jharkhand batsman was more-or-less still at helm of things despite Kohli being the official captain. Nevertheless, the ODI and T20I series went India’s way and both of India’s inspirational leaders were productive with bats as well as with brains.
Here’s how BCCI presented MS Dhoni with a ‘thank you’ gift after conclusion of the series.
Inspirational. Captain par-excellence. Thank you – #TeamIndia @msdhoni pic.twitter.com/swnMcKzFld
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 1, 2017
The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s caption of the picture read, “Inspirational. Captain par-excellence. Thank you – #TeamIndia.”
Until the 2017 Champions Trophy, which is scheduled to take place in England in June, the Indian team only has Bangladesh and Australia to face, that too in the Test format – one against Bangladesh and 4 against Australia – at home.
Having quit captaincy, it is widely expected that the Champions Trophy will be Mahi’s last tournament in Indian shirt, although he had expressed desire to play at the 2019 World Cup earlier.
The arrival of an injured Rohit Sharma for the final match, as well as the Indian board’s move to honour Dhoni’s accomplishments does hint that the Captain Cool’s journey is about to end in a not too distant future. With Indian team not scheduled to play an International match in the limited overs format at home, the move all but clarifies that the England series was Dhoni’s last in an Indian shirt at home, with the ICC Champions Trophy could well be his last ever overall.
MS Dhoni has had an illustrious career for the Men in Blue including triumph at 2007 World T20, winning the ICC Test mace in 2009, 2011 World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy.
Source: Zee News