Ravi Shastri dismisses rumours of MS Dhoni retiring, reveals he wanted to show ball to bowling coach

After the loss in the third ODI against England at Headingley, MS Dhoni asked for the ball from field umpires Bruce Oxenford (Australia) and Michael Gough (England) as the teams walked back towards the pavilion. The video of Dhoni taking the match ball from the umpires went viral on social media and people started wondering about the significance of Dhoni walking away with the ball. It immediately led to speculation that Dhoni might be considering retirement from the limited overs format. However, Ravi Shastri dismissed all speculation on Dhoni's retirement on Wednesday.

"MS wanted to show the ball to Bharat Arun. He wanted to show him the wear and tear the ball had endured, to get a general idea of what the conditions were like," Ravi Shastri clarified to TOI.

"That's rubbish. MS is not going anywhere," Shastri said about the speculation.

Dhoni's 59-ball 37 at Lord's, in a game that India lost by 86 runs, came in for a lot of criticism with fans booing the World Cup-winning skipper during the chase. Shastri reiterated that if criticism has to come Dhoni's way, he might as well endure it. But that wouldn't make him any less important than he is, given what he brings to the squad. 

"But right now, all this clamour is nonsense. He just wanted to show the ball to Arun to just have a look at it after close to 45 overs had been bowled," he said.