MS Dhoni dropped from Indian T20 cricket team, not rested: Report

'Selectors have started to look for Dhoni's replacement in Twenty20 team as everyone knows that he might not carry on till 2020 T20 World Cup'

Has MS Dhoni been rested? Has he stepped down? Did the selectors drop him? These are the questions doing the rounds for the last two days after Indian selectors announced the Indian T20 squad without Dhoni for the West Indies and Australia series.

Since then several reports have cited sources and indicated that selectors have decided to look beyond Dhoni for T20s.

According to an Indian Express report, the selectors took the decision keeping the T20 World Cup in 2020 in mind. 

"The selectors before selection meeting had informed Dhoni through the team management that time has come to move on and give a chance to a younger player in the shortest format. Everyone knows that Dhoni might not carry on till 2020 T20 World Cup. Selectors felt the Indian board should start looking for Dhoni’s replacement from now on,” the newspaper quoted a BCCI official. 

After the teams were announced, chief selector MSK Prasad had said that it was not the end of MS Dhoni's T20 career.

“He [Dhoni] is not going to play the six T20Is [West Indies and Australia] because we are looking at the second keeper’s slot. So I think we will retain Rishabh [Pant] and Dinesh Karthik. So they will be getting a chance to keep and bat. It is not the end of Dhoni in T20Is,” he said.

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Despite the refutation, many experts believe that it's an end of Dhoni's Twenty20 career.

The big news is obviously the absence of MS Dhoni from the T20 squad. The next World T20 isn't till 2020 so this is an acknowledgement that someone else will be behind the stumps there.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 26, 2018

Even the Indian T20i team for #AusvInd announced. 17 members. Big NEWS is that Dhoni is NOT in that team too. Might not see Dhoni in India colours for the T20 format again... #AusvInd

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) October 26, 2018

It isn't such a bad thing. Dhoni's favourite genre had always been the ODI and he will continue there till 2019 post which I expect him to take a call on his future. I am pretty certain he would have been part of this decision

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 26, 2018

India squad for West Indies T20Is: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Umesh Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem

India squad for Australia T20Is: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed