Dhoni still part of Kohli's ODI plans

India captain Virat Kohli has said that wicketkeeper batsman MS Dhoni is still a major part of India's plans for ODI cricket

India captain Virat Kohli has said that talismanic wicketkeeper batsman MS Dhoni is still a major part of India's plans for ODI cricket ahead of the World Cup in 2019.

Dhoni has been dropped from India's T20I squad in favour of Rishabh Pant for the upcoming series against the West Indies at home and Australia away in November. Despite this, Kohli disputed the suggestion that this was the beginning of the end of Dhoni's international white-ball career

Addressing reporters after their series-clinching victory over the West Indies, the Indian captain explained that "the selectors have already addressed this if I'm not wrong. And he's been spoken to firstly so I don't see any reason why I should be sitting here and explaining that. I think the selectors have come out and explained exactly what happened.

"I was not part of that conversation so it is what the selectors explained. I think people are putting too many variables into the situation, which is not the case I can assure you of that. He's still a very integral part of this team and he just feels that in the T20 format, someone like Rishabh can get more chances."

^{Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni}

A perceived drop in performances from Dhoni have lead to questions about his place in the team. In 2017 he averaged 60.61 over 22 innings, scoring one century and six half centuries, but in has failed to get past 50 in 2018, andc is averaging 25 over 13 innings.

Kohli, however, was certain that Dhoni still "plays ODis for us regularly, so from that point of view, he's only trying to help the youngsters - not anything that other people thinking and I as captain can certainly assure you of that".

Dhoni's advancing years could be the reason for his absence from India's T20I squads. He turned 37 this year, and the next World T20 is not till 2020, when he will be 39. Pant, on the other hand, is only 21.

Whether Dhoni has played his last white-ball game for India remains to be seen, and all eyes will be on who they include in their squad for the next ODI series against Australia in January.