Dhoni may end his ODI career soon, says team India head coach Ravi Shastri
New Delhi, Jan 9: Two-time World Cup winning India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni may "soon end his ODI career", head coach Ravi Shastri has revealed.
Speaking on other issues, Shastri also slammed the ICC's four-day Test proposal, calling the concept "nonsense".
"I have had a conversation with MS and that is between us. He has finished his Test career, he may soon end his ODI career... In all probability, he will finish one-day cricket," Shastri told 'CNN News18'.
"People must respect that he's played non-stop in all formats of the game for a while.
"At his age, probably the only format he'll want to play is T20 cricket which means he'll have to start playing again, get back into the groove because he's going to play in the IPL and see how his body reacts."
The coach reiterated that the 38-year-old veteran could still be a contender for the T20 World Cup if he does well in the upcoming Indian Premier League.
"... So he will be left with T20, he will definitely play the IPL. One thing I know about Dhoni is that he will not impose himself on the team. But if he has a cracking IPL, well, then..."
Dhoni's last outing in India colours was during the World Cup semi final against New Zealand in July where he was run out following a half century.
Shastri said form and experience will be taken into consideration while picking the team for the shortest format's biggest event.
"We will have to consider the person's experience and form. They will bat in the number 5-6 position. If Dhoni plays well in the IPL then he does put himself in contention."
Dhoni, who is on a sabbatical right now, has turned up for the country in 350 ODIs, 90 Tests and 98 T20 Internationals while effecting a staggering 829 dismissals behind the stumps.
His career is studded with several milestones including leading India to the trophy in the 2011 World Cup where he finished the title clash with a six.
As the discussion turned to four-day Tests, Shastri, like some of the greats of the game such as Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting, opposed the idea.
"Four day Test is nonsense," he said.
"If this goes on we may have limited-overs Tests. There is no need to tamper with five-day Tests. If at all they want to tamper then let the top six sides play five-day Tests and the next six be allowed to play four-day Tests.
"If you want to preserve Tests then let the top six play more against each other. You have the shorter format to popularise the game."
When asked about day-night Tests, Shastri called on ICC to get the ball right.
"Day-night Test is still under test. I still feel that pink ball does not give any advantage to spinners, they need to get the ball right for day night. During the day you have full Tests, by night it looks like half Test.
"I still feel that you will get more people to watch Tests if you have the top six play each other (more often)."
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TMC MLA Humayun Kabir apologises for claiming 'coterie' influencing Mamata's decisions
Kolkata (PTI): Trinamool Congress MLA Humayun Kabir has apologised to the party's leadership for his recent comment that a "coterie" was influencing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's key decisions.
Kabir, the MLA of Bharatpur in West Bengal's Murshidabad district, expressed his apology on Friday in reply to a show cause notice issued by the party's disciplinary committee.
"Yes, I have sent a reply. I will certainly follow party discipline. But I think being a person from the rural belt, not conversant with the ways of the city, I faced this situation for speaking my mind. However, I had not said anything against my party or its leadership," he told reporters.
"Our CM epitomises the spirit of 'Maa-Mati-Manush' and being a person of the grassroots level, I always stay rooted to the ground. Maybe I should have been more careful about my way of expressing," he said.
A senior member of the TMC's legislative disciplinary committee said the reply to the show cause letter was received, and a decision on it will be communicated soon.
Kabir, however, said some other TMC MPs had on earlier occasions made comments against party colleagues but were not censured.
On Thursday, he met the CM in the assembly's lobby where she had asked him to reply to the show-cause notice first.
On November 26, Kabir had said a coterie within the party was taking certain decisions to cement their position and was influencing the CM's key decisions for their short-term gains.
He had said this a day after the TMC national executive meeting where the party had categorically asked its leaders not to make comments in public against any internal decision and formed disciplinary committees at different levels.
Kabir had earlier advocated for giving more responsibility to TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, reiterating that the Diamond Harbour MP was undoubtedly the number two in the party's hierarchy and those trying to undermine his influence would not succeed.
