Former Indian opener, Gautam Gambhir, has been in the news recently for his contributions in the nation’s fight against Coronavirus. The pandemic has affected each and every person on this planet as a majority of the countries have locked down themselves. This move has compelled the BCCI to postpone the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) indefinitely.
The Indian fans are unhappy because of the pandemic as their favorite captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni was slated to make a comeback in this competition. MS Dhoni has been away from the cricket for nearly one year now as his last appearance in a major cricket match was against New Zealand in the semifinal of the 2019 World Cup. He took a sabbatical from international cricket and in the process, he lost his national contract also.
The fans are optimistic about his future in international cricket yet many experts believe that we have seen the last of Dhoni in Indian colors. Gambhir, who appeared on the talk show of Star Sports named Cricket Connected, gave his opinion on the future of Dhoni.
The only option for Dhoni to come back to team India was through the IPL. Now, if the IPL does not happen, there will be a huge question mark over the position of India’s wicket-keeper in the T20 World Cup.
When asked about the situation surrounding Dhoni, Gambhir was quoted as follows by ESPNCricinfo:
“If the IPL does not happen this year, then it will become very difficult for MS Dhoni to make a comeback. On what basis can he be selected since he’s not been playing for the last one or one and a half years.”
He was later interrogated about the apt replacement of the 38-year-old from Ranchi. Gautam Gambhir answered:
“The apt replacement for Dhoni could be KL Rahul. Ever since he has donned the keeper’s gloves in white-ball cricket, I’ve seen his performance, both batting, and keeping. Obviously his keeping is not as good as Dhoni’s, but if you are looking at T20 cricket, Rahul’s a utility player, can keep and bat at No. 3 or 4.”
