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Dhoni won't play for India again, says IPL teammate Harbhajan

Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said he doesn't think Mahendra Singh Dhoni will play for India again, adding to the guessing game over the future of the superstar former captain.

Dhoni, 38, has not appeared for club or country since last year's 50-over World Cup and India's coronavirus lockdown could threaten his chances of getting back into the national team.


The Indian Premier League, the main platform before this year's scheduled T20 World Cup, is likely to be truncated or cancelled because of the pandemic.

Harbhajan, who plays with Dhoni at IPL side Chennai Super Kings, said international retirement was on the cards for Dhoni and that he was increasingly being asked about his teammate.

"It's up to him. You need to know whether he wants to play for India again," Harbhajan said in an online forum.

"As far as I know him, he won't want to wear India's blue jersey again. IPL he will play, but for India I think he had decided the (2019) World Cup was his last."

Dhoni, who gave up Test cricket in 2014, started training for the Super Kings in March but has not commented on his international future.

Dhoni led India to win the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in 2007. He hit a six to seal the 2011 World Cup final victory and, along with it, his status as a national hero. He has amassed 10,773 runs from 350 ODIs.

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The total bill for asylum hotels stands at £5.5 m a day, or £2.1 bn a year

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Government considers £100 weekly payments to move asylum seekers out of hotels

Highlights

  • Asylum seekers could receive £100 per week on top of existing £49.18 support to leave hotels.
  • Currently over 32,000 migrants housed in 200 hotels costing £145 per night or £5.5 m daily.
  • Separate scheme offers up to £3,000 to asylum seekers willing to return to home countries.
The government is considering paying asylum seekers £100 a week to leave taxpayer-funded hotels and live with family or friends in the UK. Home Office officials have proposed the scheme as part of prime minister Keir Starmer's drive to accelerate the closure of asylum hotels. The weekly payment would come on top of the existing £49.18 support for living costs that migrants in hotels currently receive. The plan, set to be trialled in 2026, could reduce accommodation costs to a seventh of current spending. More than 32,000 migrants are currently housed in 200 hotels at an average cost of £145 per night or £1,015 a week. This compares with £23.25 a night for other dispersal accommodation in communities. The total bill for asylum hotels stands at £5.5 m a day, or £2.1 bn a year. Labour has pledged to stop their use by the end of this term in 2029, though suggestions indicate Starmer has privately set a one-year target.


The government has earmarked two former military barracks in Inverness, Scotland, and Crowborough, East Sussex, to house 900 migrants from the end of November as part of the hotel closure plan.


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