Manchester: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, one of the most successful skippers in the white ball cricket, is likely to announce his retirement after the end of India's World Cup 2019 campaign. With India are set to face New Zealand in the first semifinal on Tuesday here at Manchester an Indian defeat may bring the curtains down on Dhoni's career.
The cricket pundits all over the world are suggesting that 38-year-old Dhoni might say goodbye to the ODI cricket after this World Cup and if the Black Caps manage to beat favourites India this might well become the last ODI match of MS Dhoni.
Team India, topped the points table winning their final group stage match against Sri Lanka at Leeds and will play the first semifinals here at Old Trafford. Even though Men in Blue have just lost one game in the marquee event so far, their league stage match against the Kiwis was washed out due to persistent rain. It must be taken into account that Kane Williamson-led New Zealand defeated India in the warmup game.
New Zealand might have qualified for the semifinals edging out Pakistan on Net Run Rate (NRR), but that does not make them a weak. After his side qualified for the last-four vice-captain Ross Taylor said that losing three matches on the trot won't make any difference as the semifinal is a different ball game altogether.
Reasons why Dhoni should retire with immediate effect
1. The age factor
Even though Dhoni has not spoken about his retirement there are many signs that showed that this is his last World Cup. First of all, he is on the wrong side of age. The right-hand batsman turned 38 on July 7. Even though he is by far the smartest cricketing mind the former captain has somewhat failed to keep up to with the fast-paced cricket.
2. Low strike rate
Dhoni was criticised by Sachin Tendulkar and Virendra Sehwag for his dropping strike rate in this World Cup. Dhoni's strike rate while batting against Afghanistan and England was too low and he failed to finish the match in India's favour.
3. Howlers in Wicket-Keeping
At the time of keeping the wickets, he was seen leaking a lot of runs, with which Indian fans are not familiar as he failed to do justice to his reputation as one of the best wicketkeepers in the world.
4. Rishabh Pant
Rise of Rishabh Pant, 21-year-old, as a promising wicketkeeper-batsman can be one of the reasons behind Dhoni's decision. Dhoni's retirement is one of the most discussed topics in the last few years. The only question which was unanswered then was who is going to fill the void in his absence. But now with Rishabh living up to the expectation one can say that we have found Dhoni's heir in Pant who can be groomed.
5. DRS
Dhoni's accuracy while taking the DRS has gone down in recent past. In the match against England, Jason Roy nicked the ball and skipper Virat wanted to take the review but Dhoni didn't back him and in the replay, we could see that Roy was out. England in that match went on to post a huge total riding on solid opening partnership.
All in all, this looks like the end for Dhoni's extraordinary white ball cricket career. All Indian fans will be hoping for a fairytale farewell for the legend.
