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[caption id="attachment_52603" align="alignnone" width="580"] Former India captain MS Dhoni sharing a lighter moment with Virat Kohli in Dambulla. Image Source: Xtra Time[/caption] Debasis Sen, Dambulla: The five-match ODI series between India and Sri Lanka could leave an indication whether former captain MS Dhoni will feature in the scheme of things for the 2019 World Cup in England or not. The most successful Indian captain is under tremendous pressure to deliver given that the selectors want to form a core group in the next 4-5 months. According to MSK Prasad, the chairman of selection committee, “We don't say it is an automatic thing (selection of Dhoni in ODI team) but we will see. We are all stakeholders. We all want the Indian team to do well. If he is delivering, why not? If he is not, we will have to look at alternatives." The former Indian captain will be 38 years old during the 2019 World Cup. His fitness will definitely not get better and it was evident the other day when he was seen giving endurance tests with team’s strength and conditioning coach Shankar Basu at Dambulla. In recent times his batting has also came under a lot of criticism during the ODI series against West Indies. He has looked a pale shadow of his former self on many occasions recently, most glaringly during the knock of 54 off 114 balls when India lost the fourth ODI against the Caribbeans last month. However the biggest positive for him is his presence in the side as he brings in a wealth of experience and a cool head. His work behind the stumps has been exemplarily, given his sharp presence of mind. Both Virat and Shastri never had two minds about his ability as they feel Dhoni is still the automatic choice in the shorter version. But the selectors feel they need to get a core group ready by the time the 2019 World Cup arrives. And the best time to do experimentation is the next 4-5 months. Virat on being asked about the experimentation in the team, said, “It’s the time-frame for us… Two years to go, almost 24 months to go for the World Cup and now is the time to give players certain roles to get into the groove and understand what we need to do in reaching that world cup final. For us it’s all about when you want to start, giving roles to players, experimenting as a team. Sometimes we get so carried away by team India’s expectations that you have to win every game that we don’t follow a pattern. So it’s very important to understand as a group. Criticism will come along the way, you try things and lose and people will say that it shouldn’t have been done and things like that.” The next few months, starting with the ODI series against Sri Lanka will answer the questions about the senior players like MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina. The former India captain would surely love to leave on his own terms and it seems he is not ready to throw in the towel yet.