Former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been handed a new role with the Indian cricket team.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India, on Wednesday, announced that the former skipper will be the team mentor for the Virat Kohli-led side at the T20 World Cup to be held in the UAE, starting October 17.
“Former India Captain @msdhoni to mentor the team for the T20 World Cup,” Secretary @JayShah tweeted on BCCI’s handle.
"I spoke with my colleagues -- captain, vice-captain -- we all were on the same page and spoke to Dhoni. He has agreed to be a part of the team management for the T20 World Cup only," Shah said.
Dhoni had led India to the inaugural T20 World Cup title in South Africa in 2007, beating Pakistan in the final.
It remains to be seen if Dhoni will take over from current head coach Ravi Shastri, once his tenure ends in November.
India open their T20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan on October 24 in Dubai.
Indian squad for T20 WC: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami.
