Former India captain MS Dhoni has started practising with the Jharkhand Ranji Trophy squad on Thursday which made some speculation on his future. With much surprise, he has been dropped from BCCI’s central contracts list. He was seen at his home team’s net practice in Ranchi which certainly means he is preparing himself for the upcoming Indian Premier League.

“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, ” a source close to the Jharkhand team management told PTI. “We are expecting him to train with the team regularly from now on. His presence can only help the players.”

MS Dhoni has bought a brand new bowling machine for his training. While the Jharkhand team will have their red-ball routines where Dhoni will primarily practice against the white ball. He has not played a single game since the World Cup semifinal loss to New Zealand on July 9. But he was seen training for the first time since that loss in November.

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India head coach Ravi Shastri has shared that the most celebrated wicketkeeper-batsman Dhoni might retire from ODIs soon but he will be in contention for a T20 World Cup berth provided he does well for Chennai Super Kings in the upcoming IPL. The T20 World Cup will take place in Australia in October-November.

On the other hand, chief selector MSK Prasad has already made his words clear, citing that the World Cup-winning captain can only be selected again on the basis of his performances. In his absence, Rishabh Pant has taken his place.

While Dhoni has not commented anything on his future, he is certain to lead Chennai Super Kings in the 2020 IPL. Since the World Cup, he has missed the series against the West Indies, the home series against South Africa, Bangladesh, the West Indies and the ongoing series against Australia respectively.