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Was the losing semi-final the last time we will see Mahendra Singh Dhoni play for India?
Harish Kotian/Rediff.com listens to the skipper.
Predictably, as India lost the World T20 semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium, the inevitable murumurs about it being time for Mahendra Singh Dhoni to retire were heard in the stadium.
The skipper, who will turn 35 on July 7, believes he is good enough to go on for a few years more, maybe even play the next 50 overs World Cup in 2019.
Samuel Ferris, a journalist with Cricket Australia's Web site, posed the inevitable question at the skipper's post match media interaction.
Dhoni invited Ferris up to the dais and engaged him in a one-on-one discussion.
Here's how the chat went:
Dhoni to journalist: You want me to retire?
Journalist: No, I don't. I was just asking.
Dhoni: I was hoping it was an Indian media guy, because I can't really say if you have a brother or a son who can play for India as a 'keeper.
Dhoni to journalist: Do you think I am unfit?
Journalist: No.
Dhoni: Looking at me running?
Journalist: Very fast
Dhoni: Do you think I can survive till the 2019 World Cup?
Journalist: Yes, sure!
Dhoni: Then you have answered the question. I wish it was an Indian media guy because I would have asked whether he has a son who is old enough to play and is a wicket-keeper to play.
If he would have said 'No,' then I would have said maybe a brother who can play and who is a wicket-keeper.
Dhoni ended the chat with a parting shot: "You fired the wrong ammunition at the wrong time."