Fitness is the key to future, says MSD

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Tuesday rubbished talks about his retirement plans in 2013, saying his comments made during the Australian tour were "blown out of proportion" and there was still time for him to take a call.

"That was blown out of proportion," he told reporters here referring to his comments made during India's tour of Australia in January this year.

Dhoni had then said that he may retire from Test cricket if he is to play in the 2015 cricket World Cup.

"If I have to see through the 2015 (World Cup), I would have to retire from one of the formats," Dhoni had said then.

Dhoni on Tuesday said he will decide about the retirement depending upon his fitness.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

"By end of 2013, I have to see where my body stands whether I can play the 2015 - 50 over World Cup. And if I am not fit enough then I have to make way for the youngsters coming in," he said.

"If I see (that) I can only play till the end of 2014 in both the formats (ODI and Tests) then I have to give up the ODI format because, I will not be able to play the 2015 World cup. There is no point in pursuing the ODI career. So, it was more like what is good for everyone," he added.

Elaborating his point, Dhoni said: "You want an experience wicket keeper, because it is a very important slot. Wicketkeeper is always half captain in the sense he does all the field settings and everything and gives the captain as to what is happening from the batsmen's side.

"So this is it all about. It is not like I am retiring right now. Or I will have to retire in 2013. Still one and half years is there. Nobody knows that a major injury can happen and I won't be able to play cricket. Thats something that can happen in life. But this is it if everything goes in the right direction," he said.
Asked about the performance of Chennai Super Kings in the ongoing Indian Premier League season, Dhoni said they need to improve their bowling.

"If you see (in) this specific format, you have to be at your best. But if you say in the last IPL we played, the wickets were relaid after that, they are on the slower side. It will take time to get used to it. But, (on the bowling side) we have not bowled really well. We need to bowl well."

"In a slow wicket, 145-150 run is a good target. We have not been able to defend that. These are the areas we need to work on. Hopefully, in the coming few games, we will be able to address that," he said.

Asked for his reaction to Sachin Tendulkar being nominated for Rajya Sabha, Dhoni said, "Let's wait and watch", but declined to elaborate.u00a0