In recent times, former Indian skipper, MS Dhoni’s ability to play at the international level was questioned more often than not. Dhoni, who once used to terrorize the opposition bowlers with his explosiveness, has only looked a shadow of himself recently. Having been dropped from the Indian T20I squad in order to give some chances to the young Rishabh Pant, there have been questions as to whether the veteran wicket-keeper batsman deserves to play for India in the 2019 ICC World Cup. For his close friend turned manager, Arun Pandey, the question of Dhoni letting go of the showpiece event isn’t even a topic of discussion.

As per the reports of Gulf News, CMD of Rhiti Sports which manages MS Dhoni, Pandey said, “It’s been a long cherished dream of Dhoni – since he gave up the captaincy in white ball cricket – to play in the World Cup next year where he would be more as a mentor to the team. His idea was to give Kohli time to develop in this role and there is still no change in his thinking.”

With his dominant performances across formats, Pant has been impressing the selectors to get an edge over MS for the last couple of years. While Rishabh seemed to have cemented himself a place behind the stumps in the Test squad, someone like Dinesh Karthik remains in an out of the team in ODIs and T20Is.

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As Dhoni was dropped for the T20I squad against Windies and Australia, skipper Virat Kohli had revealed that it was Mahi’s own wish to have the youngster Pant be given more opportunities.

Explaining Dhoni’s absence, Virat said, “He’s (Dhoni) still a very integral part of this team and he just feels that in the T20 format, someone like Rishabh can get more chances.”

As for the World Cup, the chances of another wicket-keeper batsman being preferred over Dhoni look fairly severe, considering both the experience that Dhoni brings to the table and his record in major tournaments.