MS Dhoni makes himself unavailable for West Indies tour, set to serve para-military regiment for a two-month period

Amidst plenty of retirement-related speculations, MS Dhoni has informed the BCCI that he will be taking a two-month break to serve the military. However, he quashed any rumours surrounding his immediate retirement from international cricket.

“We would like to clarify three things. MS Dhoni is not retiring from cricket right now. He is taking a two month sabbatical to serve his paramilitary regiment which he had committed much earlier. We have now intimated his decision to skipper Virat Kohli and chairman of selectors MSK Prasad,” said a senior BCCI official on Saturday.

It is to be noted that MS Dhoni is an Honorary Lieutenant Colonel in the Parachute Regiment of the Territorial Army.

Dhoni came under a lot of criticism for his sedate batting approach during the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. Initially, it was expected that Dhoni would sign off from international cricket after the World Cup but various reports suggested that he would not retire and will not remain as the first choice going forward.

This put the selectors in a tricky situation and the latest clarification, from MS Dhoni himself will help the selectors choose a squad without any doubts for the upcoming West Indies tour. However, once the tour comes to an end, MSK Prasad and co. will have to take a call on Dhoni's future, considering that the ICC T20 World Cup is only a year and two months away.

“The selection committee has always been clear on one issue. They have no right to tell anyone irrespective of their stature as to when they should call it quits but when it comes to team selection, it remains their domain,” said the BCCI official.

The MSK Prasad-led selection panel is set to meet on July 21 in Mumbai to select the Indian squads for the full tour of the West Indies starting from August 3rd 2019 at Florida.

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