Don't ask till January: Dhoni on comeback

Mumbai : "Don't ask me till January", said Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday as he sought to steer clear of queries on his ongoing break from cricket, which has fuelled intense speculation about his future in the game.

January tak mat poocho (don't ask me till January)," said Dhoni at an event here before questions on his sabbatical, which started with India's semifinal ouster from the World Cup in July, could even be thrown at him.

On Tuesday, a source close to the former India captain said he will take a call on his future after next year's Indian Premier League (IPL). Dhoni has been on a sabbatical since India's semifinal exit from the ODI World Cup in England in July. He has missed the tour of the West Indies and the home series against South Africa and Bangladesh.

The 38-year-old, who captains Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, will miss the limited-overs home assignment against the West Indies starting December 6 and comprising three T20 Internationals and an equal number of one-dayers.

National selection committee chairman MSK Prasad has already made it clear that the panel has "moved on" and Dhoni is aware of its intent to blood youngsters such as Rishabh Pant keeping in mind next year's T20 World Cup in Australia.

Dhoni was seen training with Jharkhand's under-23 team in Ranchi some days back, triggering a fresh round of speculation on a possible comeback. BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has stated that Dhoni will get the respect that a player of his stature deserves and had ruled out an immediate retirement by the celebrated wicketkeeper-batsman.

"You know champions don't finish quickly," he had stated when he took over as the Board President last month. Can never forget rousing reception we received after winning 2007 World T20, 2011 World Cup: Dhoni on Wednesday picked the rousing reception his team received after its triumph in the 2007 World T20 and 2011 World Cup as the moments close to his heart.

Under Dhoni's leadership, India won the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa before winning the 2011 ODI World Cup as hosts at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Dhoni, who launched two limited editions watches of "Panerai" here, recollected the best moments of his career.

"There are two incidents I would like to mention over here. So after the 2007 (T20) World Cup, we came back to India and had an open bus ride and we were standing at the Marine Drive (in Mumbai). It was jam-packed all around and people had come out of their cars," said Dhoni.

"So, I felt good after seeing the smile on everyone's face. Because, there could have been so many people in the crowd, who might have missed their flights, perhaps they were going for important work. The kind of reception, we got, the entire Marine Drive was full from one end to other."

The other moment which he listed was the chants of "Vande Mataram" by the fans when India was close to victory in the 2011 World Cup final here. Dhoni had remained unbeaten on 91 in the all-important game.

"And the second instance I would say the 2011 World Cup final, in that match when 15-20 runs were required, the way all the spectators started chanting 'Vande Mataram' at the Wankhede Stadium.

"These are two moments, I think, it will be very difficult to replicate them. Those are the two moments that are very close to my heart," added Dhoni, whose future is an intense subject of speculation as he is not played since India's World Cup semifinal loss to New Zealand in July.