Dhoni ‘unavailable’ for West Indies tour, to serve his regiment in Indian army

July 20: Former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that he will be unavailable for two months and as a result, will be missing India’s tour of the West Indies to be played in the month of August, 2019.  MS Dhoni will now join his regiment for the next two months to serve in the Army.

Dhoni has been given an honorary Lieutenant Colonel designation by the Parachute Regiment of the Army. MSD has taken two months leave from cricket to serve in the Army. .A senior BCCI official said, “We would like to clarify three things. MS Dhoni is not retiring from cricket right now. He is taking a two month sabbatical to serve his paramilitary regiment which he had committed much earlier. We have now intimated his decision to skipper Virat Kohli and Chairman of selectors MSK Prasad.”

India’s tour of the West Indies will begin with a three-match T20I series starting August 3. The teams will then play three ODIs and two Test matches between August 8-30.