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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MI post 205 for five against DC
New Delhi, Apr 13 (PTI): Kuldeep Yadav's artistry was well complemented by young leg-spinner Vipraj Nigam's happy knack of picking wickets before Tilak Varma's attractive half-century took Mumbai Indians to 205 for 5 in an IPL match here on Sunday.
Tilak (59 off 33 balls) was the only MI batter to capitalise on a good start, hitting six fours and three sixes and making amends for his poor scores in some of the earlier games. Naman Dheer (38 not out off 17 balls) then used the long handle to prop up the total.
On a track where stroke-making wasn't very difficult, the two wrist spinners from Uttar Pradesh snared four wickets between them while giving away 64 runs in their eight overs, which could be termed as brilliant considering the conditions.
The two spinners actually decreased the pace of their deliveries, allowing them to slightly grip off the surface and some of the MI batters perished while going for risky shots.
Rohit Sharma's (18 off 12 balls) wretched IPL form continued as young Vipraj (2/41 in 4 overs) found him plumb in-front with a googly that he missed while trying to go for a slog sweep over the cow-corner. He now has 56 runs from five innings.
For Vipraj, it is some kind of an achievement getting Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in back-to-back games.
Rohit's opening partner Ryan Rickleton (41 off 25 balls) did show spark but the seasoned Kuldeep (2/23 in 4 overs) seemed to have tied a thread to the white Kookaburra, controlling its length like a yo-yo.
Kuldeep flighted the deliveries, there was late dip and Rickleton perished while trying to play for the turn but it was a flipper that went straight.
In case of Suryakumar Yadav (40 off 27 balls), who had just started looking dangerous, Kuldeep decreased the pace and bowled the googly as the bat face turned for India's T20 skipper. The result was a simple catch in the deep.
Tilak and Naman then added 62 runs in 5.3 overs overs to take the team past 200-run mark.
