Aakash Chopra faced heavy abuse from MS Dhoni fans after his squad selection (Source: Twitter & Reuters File)
MS Dhoni’s return to the cricket field was delayed as the Covid-19 pandemic led to the postponement of IPL 2020. Dhoni has not played a single game (domestic or international) since India’s heartbreaking loss to New Zealand in World Cup 2019 semi-final. But he was speculated to be among those in contention for a berth in India’s T20 World Cup squad on the basis of his performance for Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Fans and cricket experts weighed in on the debate whether Dhoni should be considered eligible for selection for the national side. Former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra picked his 14-man T20 World Cup squad last month where he left Dhoni out of the contention.
Chopra had to face a lot of flak from Dhoni’s fans on social media thereafter as he shared his opinion. However, it was in a conversation with former Indian cricketer Ajit Agarkar he revealed the magnitude of the abuse he had to endure.
“I had to close social media for a few days. People abused me so much, it kept on coming, they abused the kids as well. I said please pardon me guys, what happened has happened,” revealed the 42-year-old.
Agarkar also agreed with Chopra to a certain extent as selectors will find it tough to pick Dhoni after a long gap from competitive cricket.
“I don’t know actually. Retiring or not retiring is MS Dhoni’s call. To select or to not select is selectors’ call if he fits in their plan. I don’t know, for the player who hasn’t played for a year, for me it will be difficult. Don’t know about the communication between MS Dhoni and team management or with the selectors,” Agarkar opined.
“We don’t know about that. It will be difficult talking about an individual player but I will like to see the player playing cricket. If someone is not playing cricket then there is no point giving opinion on them or discussing about. I know people discuss about Dhoni because he has not retired and he has not playing also.”
“It’s obvious because of his achievements and fan following in India. Fans want him to play again but there is no point of discussion till the time he doesn’t play cricket,” added the Mumbai stalwart.