'It’s a clear message': Virender Sehwag gives his take on MS Dhoni's exclusion from BCCI contract list

The very moment when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officially unveiled the central contracts for Indian cricketers, one thing which caught everyone's attention was the exclusion of MS Dhoni.

With questions over the wicketkeeper-batsman's retirement doing the rounds, the decision to exclude him just gave rise to more speculations.

Ever since India's semi-final exit from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 against New Zealand in August last year, MSD made himself unavailable for selection. During his break from cricket, the 38-year-old also served for the Indian Army too.

Former Team India opener Virender Sehwag has now expressed his thoughts on this situation and said that the selectors must have made their mind up to go ahead with a squad without Dhoni in it.

“Selectors have probably made up their mind that they will not select MS Dhoni. So BCCI also made its mind,” Sehwag was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

“The grades are created by selectors and they might have thought that since they will not pick Dhoni, it will be ideal to include him. It’s correct. It’s a clear message for MS that you can call it quits whenever you feel like,” he added.

The 41-year-old also claimed that he is not at all surprised with MSD's exclusion as the former Indian skipper hasn't played for the national side for a long time.

“No. Not at all he hasn’t played any form of cricket since World Cup 2019 so no surprises here. He has retired from Tests, they don’t play him in one-days and there’s only one format left. It isn’t also confirmed whether they would play him again.”

Earlier last week, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly refused to speak on the situation when asked about.

"I can't comment on this," Ganguly was quoted as saying by PTI when asked why MSD did not receive a contract extension from the country's cricketing body.

However, when it comes to Mahi playing again for the Men In Blue, India coach Ravi Shastri said the final call on Dhoni would be taken after the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).