Dhoni focused on WT20, not retirement

India limited-overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni still insists he is not thinking about retiring from all formats, and would rather focus on the upcoming matches in Australia, and then the World Twenty20.

Dhoni has already handed the Test captaincy over to Virat Kohli, retiring from that format, but says he's living in the now, and will look at handing up his spikes after the WT20 in India in March. If then.

Dhoni told reporters in Mumbai: "I am somebody who always believes in the present, so you're not going to get answers from me regarding the future, that’s too far ahead.

"I've not really thought beyond (the Australia tour and the T20 World Cup), because all the energy and the resources and the thinking needs to go into this.

"It’s a very important three months, and after that we'll see what happens."

Dhoni said he and the selectors would be using the ODIs and T20s against Australia to assess new players, despite the conditions being very different to what they will face back home.

He added: "We always knew it was part of the plan to play three T20s over there (Australia), and the conditions will be very different to where we will play the World Cup.

"But at the same time it’s good to have three T20s together because more often than not you get one T20 in a bilateral series or a maximum of two.

"It doesn't give a lot of opportunities – to try different people at different slots, different bowling combinations, so we will be in a better position for the start of the (T20) World Cup as to what our playing eleven may look like and what will be the best suited strategy for the team.

"I feel it’s a very exciting time.

"What’s even more important than just focusing on the results, we need to see which players have got stronger character and who can contribute more to the team because it’s difficult to figure out just in two or three games who is a player that can be a game changer in the next one or two years.

"What’s important is to see those glimpses, identify ‘okay, this is the one we need to work on’ and then back that guy in until he starts doing well.

"So it’s an opportunity for the youngsters and at the same time I think it’s something that we'll love to see on the ground."

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