MS Dhoni: No questions on my comeback till January

Mahendra Singh Dhoni during a promotional event in the city yesterday. Pic/ Atul Kamble

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has provided enough reason for the country's cricket fans to adopt a wait and watch approach where his comeback is concerned. No one knows when he intends to play his first game since India exited the ICC World Cup after New Zealand knocked out the 1983 and 2011 champions in July. The wait continues. Where watch is concerned, he was in town on Wednesday to endorse a watch brand!

While the national selectors have "moved on' from Dhoni, whether the legendary Indian cricketer himself has, remains a mystery.

Making a rare public appearance on Wednesday at St Regis, Lower Parel, Dhoni told the media as he was exiting, "January tak matt pucho [No questions till January]." Dhoni did not dwell on his international cricket absence during the event as well.

However, he did speak about how 7 is not exactly his lucky number contrary to popular belief. "It is just that I was born on 7th July," he clarified. Dhoni revealed his two best moments - the reception his team got on arrival in Mumbai after winning the 2007 World T20 title in South Africa and the 2011 World Cup final at the Wankhede Stadium. "The kind of reception we got...the entire Marine Drive was full from one end to the other," he recalled.

About the 2011 World Cup triumph, he said, "When 15-20 runs were required [and] the way the spectators started chanting Vande Mataram...it will be difficult to replicate."

It is to be seen whether Dhoni will be part of the Indian team for the three-match T20 series against Sri Lanka at home from January 5 to 10. That contest will be followed by a tour of New Zealand where India will figure in five T20Is and three ODIs apart from two Tests.

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