Under the leadership of MS Dhoni, Team India had won the inaugural edition of the ICC T20 World Cup in 2007. In 2016, he was aiming for a second T20 World Cup, but India suffered a loss against the West Indies in the semi-final in Mumbai.
Current Indian skipper Virat Kohli recalled a “special night” from the tournament and thanked the wicket-keeper batsman for making him “run like in a fitness test”. Virat Kohli tweeted, “A game I can never forget. Special night. This man, made me run like in a fitness test”.
A game I can never forget. Special night. This man, made me run like in a fitness test 😄 @msdhoni 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/pzkr5zn4pG
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) September 12, 2019
On March 27, 2016, India outplayed Australia by six wickets in their last group stage match to qualify for the T20 World Cup semi-finals. Kohli was the highest run-scorer for India with unbeaten 82-run innings, thanks to a crucial partnership with Dhoni for the fifth wicket in the chase.
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Dhoni played an unbeaten knock of 18 runs off 10 balls as India pulled off a 161-run chase with five balls to spare in Mohali. He last played a T20I for India in February 2019, against Australia in Bengaluru. Recently, he had a break from cricket after India’s 50-over World Cup campaign surprisingly ended in the semi-finals.
According to PTI, the Indian selectors seem to have had a chat with Dhoni about his availability for the home series against South Africa. However, with this tweet from Kohli, there have also been speculations that he will announce his retirement soon. Here are some of the predictions done by the netizens:
Why has he posted this now? Is Dhoni retiring? pic.twitter.com/Iva60XDPul
— ` (@FourOverthrows) September 12, 2019
Dhoni retiring? https://t.co/7d6QrS2MOJ
— Devvrat Unadkat (@DevvratUnadkat) September 12, 2019
2016 world cup T20 Semifinal against Australia….
KOHLI scored 82 not out and this is winning shot by Mahi! ❤️
One of the best match ever 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/iN23fYdy4X— Prabhat Sharma 🇮🇳 (@Prashaforever) September 12, 2019
Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the only player left out as a part of the workload management programme. The first T20I of the series is expected to take place in Dharmasala on September 15. The second and third match will be played on September 18 and 22 respectively.