Dhoni starts practising with Jharkhand Ranji squad

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has not played a competitive game since the World Cup semifinal loss to New Zealand on July 9.

Published : Jan 16, 2020 18:15 IST , NEW DELHI

Uncertain future: M. S. Dhoni hasn’t played for India after the 2019 World Cup.

Uncertain future: M. S. Dhoni hasn’t played for India after the 2019 World Cup.

Dropped from BCCI’s central contracts list, former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni began practising with the Jharkhand Ranji Trophy squad on Thursday amid fresh speculation on his future.

The 38-year-old showed up at his home team’s net practice in Ranchi, indicating he is gearing himself for the upcoming Indian Premier League.

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“Even we did not know that he was going to come and train with us. It was a pleasant surprise. He batted for a while and did the usual training routine,” said a source close to the Jharkhand team management.

Jharkhand’s next match is against Uttarakhand, starting Sunday in Ranchi. Dhoni has not played a competitive game since the World Cup semifinal loss to New Zealand on July 9.

Head coach Ravi Shastri has hinted that the celebrated wicketkeeper-batsman might retire from ODIs soon but will be in contention for a T20 World Cup berth provided he does well for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. The T20 World Cup will be held in Australia in October.