Thiruvananthapuram
India captain Virat Kohli on Thursday reiterated that MS Dhoni remains an integral part of the ODI team and the veteran wicketkeeper batsman decided not to play the upcoming T20s only to make way for Rishabh Pant. “I think selectors have already addressed this if I’m not wrong. And he’s been spoken to, firstly… So, I don’t see any reason why I should be sitting here and explaining that. I think the selectors have come out and explained exactly what happened,” said Kohli.

“I was not part of that conversation so… It is what the selectors explained. I think people are putting too much variables into the situation, which is not the case. He’s still a very integral part of this team and he just feels that in the T20 format, someone like Rishabh can get more chances.”

Dhoni has been dropped for the upcoming T20 series against West Indies and Australia and there is a possibility that he would never again play for India in the shortest format. “He anyway plays the ODIs for us regularly, so from that point of view, he’s only trying to help the youngsters,” Kohli said.