Jharkhand likely to have presence of MS Dhoni for the semis

Limited overs Team India skipper MS Dhoni is most likely to be present with the Jharkhand team for the Ranji Trophy semi-finals. The Indian skipper has been with the Jharkhand side that has had a dream run in the season thus far. This is the first time when the side has made it to the semi-finals in the history of Ranji Trophy. Riding on Ishan Kishan’s heroics, they overcame the Haryana challenge in the quarterfinals to make it to semis.

They will be up against the spirited Parthiv Patel led Gujarat team in the semi-final starting on January 1. Shahbaz Nadeem, the left-arm spinner, has been a key performer for them this year and has emerged as the leading wicket-taker of the tournament thus far. Virat Singh, Saurabh Tiwary and Ishank Jaggi have been instrumental with the bat. Needless to say, it has been a complete team effort for Jharkhand this year. One more man who has been attributed as the reason behind their success is MS Dhoni. Dhoni is the most prominent name in cricket from the state of Jharkhand.

Since he was not on national duty during most part of the Ranji Trophy till now, he made sure that he was present with the team at different venues. He was seen in Delhi practicing with the state boys ahead of their first match this season against Maharashtra. The senior players of the team have also credited the influence MS Dhoni has had on the players. Now, when the team needs a morale boost, they have the services of MS again.

As per reports in NDTV, he will be present at Nagpur during the semi-final match. “He should be there in Nagpur in all probability. He wants to be there. Interactions with him has always been helpful for the boys,” a source in Jharkhand team quoted to PTI.

Also read – Jharkhand cricketers Shahbaz Nadeem and Ishan Kishan laud the helping hand of MS Dhoni

He will be back in Indian colors on January 15 when the ODI series against England kick starts. There have been reports of Dhoni playing the warm-up matches before turning up for national duty. Hence, he might not be present for the semifinals for the entire duration, but is surely expected to be there for a couple of days.