Dhoni's future for the national side, however, remains intriguing for fans. He last played for India in the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup more than six months back and has since made himself unavailable for selection. At an event late last year, he had attracted attention when he told not to ask about his India future until January. A few days ago, the BCCI even dropped Dhoni from their centrally contracted players' lists.
During his absence, however, coach Ravi Shastri has throughout maintained that he remains a crucial part of the side and would be back in contention should he perform well this year?s IPL. With the T20 World Cup in Australia this winter, India is still looking for clarity about his intentions to represent the senior side.
With Dhoni missing, the selectors have kept faith in young Rishabh Pant in the limited-overs squads. Post the conclusion of the ongoing ODI series at home against Australia, India travels to New Zealand for 5 T20s, 3 ODIs, and 2 Tests starting January 24.
MS Dhoni will be retained by CSK in 2021, no doubt: N Srinivasan
N Srinivasan, the vice-chairman and managing director of India Cements, the company which owns the Chennai Super Kings IPL side, has cleared his intentions of seeing MS Dhoni play for the team at least for the next two seasons. At an India Cements event, Srinivasan confirmed that CSK will not only have Dhoni playing in the 2020 IPL but will also retain him for the 2021 season. "People keep saying...how long will he play, etc. He will play. I can assure you. He will play this year. Next year, he will go [to] the auction; he will be retained. So there is no doubt in anybody's mind", he said.