Post-October 2018, Rishab Pant was inducted into the Indian T20 team in place of Dhoni. In fact, Dhoni played his last limited overs match against the West Indies on 1 November 2018. Talking to the press post the decision the chief selector MSK Prasad had told reporters that Dhoni will not play the six T20s against the West Indies and those against Australia. Another BCCI official had pointed out that Dhoni is not likely to be around when the ICC World T20 Cup will be held in Australia in 2020 and that they are looking for another wicketkeeper to take over the mantle.

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So it comes as a surprise that Dhoni has been included in the squad to play the ODIs as well as the T20. Several of the Indias cricket stalwarts like Sunil Gavaskar and Mohinder Amarnath had questioned the BCCI’s exempting Mahendra Singh Dhoni form playing in the domestic circuit. Their contention was that if a cricketer expects to play international cricket he has to be match fit to ensure that his reflexes are sharp. Rishab Pant too has not done himself a favour with his batting performances. Against the West Indies Pant was in the team solely as a batsman while Dhoni kept the wickets.

Team India-

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So why did the Indian selectors have a change of heart and replace Rishab Pant with Dhoni?

The Indian team is scheduled to play an ODI series in Australia on completion of the current on-going Test match series. Thereafter they will travel to New Zealand where they will engage the hosts in five ODI’s and three T20 matches. Despite the fact that Dhoni is 37 odd years old, he is extremely fit. It shows from his running between the wickets and from his wicketkeeping. The selectors are also aware of the fact that the ICC ODI World Cup, to be played in England will have pitches similar to those found in Australia and New Zealand as regards the bounce, pace and swing.

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Besides the fact that playing in overseas conditions will aid in Dhoni’s match fitness, there is another important factor which is the reason that Dhoni is certain to be in the Indian World Cup squad. His astuteness. There is no doubt that Dhoni has been among the shrewdest cricket captains of this generation. He can be so calm and relaxed in tight situations that it not only rubs off on his teammates, even when he is not the captain but can be disquieting to the opposition too. He has been as agile behind the stumps as the day he played his first international match.

These are the reasons which justify the inclusion of Dhoni in the T20 squad and that more than compensates for his non-performance with the bat in the recent past. Rishabh Pant, on the other hand, has not been outstanding behind the stumps. His performance with the bat too has not been up to the mark if you consider that he will replace a player like Dhoni. It is also well understood that no matter which other wicket keeper crops up, Dhoni is certainly going to play in the World Cup next year. That is why selecting Dhoni for all limited over international matches makes sense.