Proving the speculations wrong, erstwhile India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has decided to give Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament a miss.
Dhoni, who is presently in Ranchi with his family, on Wednesday informed the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) that he would not represent Jharkhand in the tournament.
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"Yesterday, Dhoni has officially told us that he would not be available for the tournament," JSCA secretary Debasish Chakrabarty told Sportstar.
Since Dhoni has been visiting the stadium quite regularly to train, the JSCA officials were hoping that the wicketkeeper-batsman could feature in the T20 tournament.
But now, with the 36-year-old clearing the air over his selection, the association has decided to pick the team with the players who are available.
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With Chennai Super Kings announcing that it would retain Dhoni for this year's Indian Premier League, speculations were rife that he could don the Jharkhand jersey to keep himself fit ahead of the cash-rich T20 League.
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Irfan Pathan dropped
While Jharkhand will be without the services of Dhoni, Baroda has left out its seasoned campaigner Irfan Pathan from the squad. Young Deepak Hooda, who recently was selected in India's T20 squad, will lead the side.
With Irfan being dropped again, there are speculations that he might take a tough call on his career. But speaking to Sportstar , the discarded India international said that such thoughts haven't crossed his mind yet.
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While Pathan will be out of the squad, his elder brother Yusuf will be available only after January 10, thereby ruling himself out of the squad for the T20 tournament.
Former wicketkeeper-batsman Nayan Mongia's son Mohit has been included in the side.
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