Ravi Shastri makes a big statement as MS Dhoni retirement rumours emerge

Leeds: A day after ‘MS Dhoni retiring’ speculation left the social media in frenzy after he took the match ball from the on-field umpires Bruce Oxenford and Michael Gough as England beat India in the third and final ODI in Leeds to win the series on Tuesday.

However, Virat Kohli-led Team India head coach Ravi Shastri has squashed all the speculation, terming them “rubbish” while indicating that Dhoni is not going anywhere.

"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," Shastri was quoted as saying The Times of India.

"That's rubbish. MS is not going anywhere," added the Indian cricket team head coach.

Dhoni had come under fire following his 59-ball 37-run knock in the second ODI of the series at Lord’s. In fact, the crowd at the iconic venue booed Dhoni in the same game where he completed 10,000 ODI runs.

Following that game, Kohli had come out in Dhoni’s support, saying, "When he does well, people call him the best finisher ever and when they don't go well, they all pounce on him. We all have bad days in cricket and today was a bad one for everyone, not just him.”

"Also, you want to take the innings deep; you don't want to just lose by 160-170 runs, and he has the experience, but some days it just doesn't come off. Other people jump to conclusions, but we don't -- we totally believe in him,” Kohli had said.