MSD’s match ball gesture triggers retirement rumours

The 37-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman was seen seeking the ball from the umpires as players left the ground after India lost by eight wickets on Tuesday to go down 1-2 in the series. The act was an unusual one for Dhoni, who is more known for collecting stumps after winning matches.

The 30-second clip went viral on social media and accompanying it were questions on whether the two-time World Cup-winning skipper had dropped a hint at retirement.

However, sources in the team management dismissed the talk as nothing more than “rumours”.

Dhoni, who retired stunningly from Test cricket in the middle of India’s 2014 tour of Australia, has been under the scanner of late for not being able to score as prolifically as he has been known to.

His legendary finishing skills and the ability to accelerate innings have been on the wane but current skipper Virat Kohli has backed him to the hilt, dismissing any criticism directed at the senior player.

Retirement has always been a sensitive topic for Dhoni and he had once dramatically quashed the speculation for at least until the 2019 World Cup in an animated conversation with an Australian journalist. Under Dhoni’s captaincy, India won the ODI World Cup in 2011 after claiming the World Twenty20 title in 2007. Dhoni also led India to the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013 in England. He is only the second wicketkeeper-batsman to touch the 10000-run mark in ODI cricket.