In a surprise call during the World Cup squad announcement on Wednesday, 8 September evening, the BCCI has announced that former India captain MS Dhoni will be joining the national team as a mentor for the World T20 2021 slated to take place in UAE and Oman in October-November. The BCCI secretary, Jay Shah, confirmed that the wicket-keeper batsman would be taking up the role.
“I spoke to Dhoni in Dubai. He was okay with the decision and agreed to be a mentor for Team India for the T20 World Cup only. I spoke to captain, vice-captain and Ravi Shastri also, they all are on the same page,” Shah said.
Dhoni has been one of the most successful Indian captains and is the only skipper to lift three ICC trophies. India won the World T20 in 2007, 50-over World Cup in 2011 and Champions Trophy in 2013 under Dhoni’s leadership.
The wicket-keeper batsman hung his boots from international cricket on August 15, 2020, and last played for India in the semi-final of the 50-over World Cup in 2019 against New Zealand. India lost the semi-final and bowed out of the tournament.
The BCCI announced the squad for the tournament on Wednesday and the side would be led by Virat Kohli while opening batsman Rohit Sharma would be his deputy.
The Indian team is scheduled to start the campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai on October 24.
SQUAD: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohd Shami