Former India skipper MS Dhoni enjoys a huge fan following all over the world and recently Aakash Chopra got to know about it in a hard way.
As he left out Dhoni from his Indian squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia, Chopra faced the wrath of veteran wicketkeeper’s fans on social media.
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In fact, the ex-India opener-turned-commentator received so much abuse that he had to stay away from his social media handles for a few days.
Last month, Aakash picked his Indian squad for the marquee event. He named two wicketkeepers in KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant in the 14-member squad, ignoring Dhoni as he felt it would be tough for the 38-year-old to make a comeback after not playing competitive cricket since India’s 2019 World Cup campaign.
"I had to close social media for 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," Aakash Chopra told while talking to former pacer Ajit Agarkar.
During the chat, Agarkar also endorsed Aakash’s viewpoint regarding Dhoni’s cricket future.
The former fast bowler also reckoned that there must have been a communication between MS Dhoni and the selectors.
"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."
"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. We can discuss about his selection after he starts playing, if he has that in him and if he fits in the future plans of team. Things have come to standstill because of coronavirus pandemic but I am sure that there would have been a communication between the management and Dhoni. He is a big player," Agarkar said.
The World Cup 2019 semi-final against New Zealand at Old Trafford was MS Dhoni’s last appearance in Team India colours.
In a bid to stake claim for a place in the national squad for T20 World Cup, Dhoni was set to lead Chennai Super Kings (CSK) during the 13th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) but the COVID-19 outbreak forced the BCCI to suspend the cash-rich event indefinitely last month.
(Inputs from India Today)
