MS Dhoni Ends His Two-Week Stint With Territorial Army... What Next?

Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's spell with his Territorial Army unit has ended. The veteran wicketkeeper-batsman is now in New Delhi with wife Sakshi and daughter Ziva. The 38-year-old, who holds an honorary title of Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Army, completed his stint on August 15. (Cricket News)

Speculations were rife that Dhoni would retire from international cricket after India's World Cup 2019 campaign. But the 38-year-old remained tight lip about his future plans. The former India captain then made himself unavailable for the West Indies tour, and opted to join the 106 TA Battalion (Para) in Jammu for a two-week stint.

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Dhoni was deployed in the Kashmir Valley as part of the Victor Force and took the duties of patrolling, guard and post duty. He was later in Ladakh on the eve of the 73rd Independence Day and images of him playing cricket with the kids there was all over the social media.

With the Indian cricket team currently in the Caribbean, Dhoni is expected to lie low and spent quality time with his family. And the chances of him making any surprise announcement is very low. He is expected to return to action during the three-match T20I series against visiting South Africa.

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Meanwhile, in Dhoni's absence, his heir apparent Rishabh Pant has been donning the role of wicketkeeper against the Windies. But the flambouyant youngster has so far failed to make an impression.

In fact, the Delhi cricketer became a target of angry fans for his careless batting display during the T20I and ODI series, which nonetheless were won by India.

Pant is expected to be India's first-choice wicket-keeper in the Test series, ahead of experienced Wriddhiman Saha.

(With IANS inputs)