Reports | Back injury reason for MS Dhoni exclusion from Indian team

Amidst growing chatter about his retirement after the World Cup, the former India captain decided to take a break from international cricket and spend time fulfilling his duties with the Indian Army. An honorary Lieutenant Colonel, Dhoni had a two-week stint with the Para Regiment of the Indian Army in Kashmir after he returned from England. As expected, he wasn’t part of the Indian team that toured the Caribbean, but his exclusion from the squad for the visiting South Africans have sparked questions and theories once again.

However, tracking back to Dhoni’s own words after he scored an unbeaten 79 against Kings XI Punjab in the IPL last year and comparing that with his words from this season, one gets a fair idea that he was indeed carrying a back injury. 

“It’s bad. How bad it is, I don’t know,” Dhoni said at the post-match presentation last year.

“The back is holding up, it’s not getting worse, with the World Cup coming up, can’t afford that, because that’s too important,” Dhoni said this season. 

Adding the wrist injury to the picture, BCCI sources have said that the 38-year-old is expected to be fit by November. On the bright side, the Indian team management has dropped hints that they haven’t ruled out the possibility of Dhoni making a comeback into the side. 

“One great thing about him is that he thinks for Indian cricket. And whatever we (team management) think he is on the same page. The alignment is there. The kind of mindset he has had about grooming youngsters and giving them opportunities, and he is still the same person,” Kohli said ahead of the South Africa series.