Sourav Ganguly: Didn't expect MS Dhoni to be picked for SA T20s

MS Dhoni

New Delhi: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly didn't expect Mahendra Singh Dhoni to be "picked" for the upcoming T20 Internationals against South Africa and said the team management is absolutely right in persisting with young Rishabh Pant.

Dhoni's future in international cricket has been a topic of debate with the national selectors showing an inclination to look towards the future.

While Ganguly doesn't want people to "jump the gun" as far as Dhoni's future is concerned, he made it clear that skipper Virat Kohli's "expectations" and "what he is communicating" to the senior-most player in the team is paramount. "No, I didn't expect him to be picked for this series (against South Africa)," Ganguly replied when asked if he was surprised with Dhoni's omission even though the official reason is his "unavailability".

"You could make out from West Indies (T20) series, that they (team management) wanted to give Rishabh a chance. They want to pursue with him, which is rightly so. Because when MS came in young, he was also persisted with," said Dhoni's first international captain.

However, one of India's best captains agreed that it's a tricky situation which skipper Kohli needs to deal with.

"I think Virat is very important as to what he is communicating to Dhoni. What he (Kohli) expects of him (Dhoni) is very hard to say. But I don't think anybody should jump the gun and pass a statement," said the ex-skipper.

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