Mohinder Amarnath, the former India selector, has said it was the BCCI president, N Srinivasan, who overruled the selectors’ unanimous call for sacking of MS Dhoni as captain after the two whitewashes in England and Australia. “The Board President did not approve the unanimous decision to replace Mahendra Singh Dhoni,” Amarnath told CNN-IBN.
In response to the comment, the BCCI chose to stay quiet at the moment. “We don’t wish to respond to these allegations at this point when the team is due to play a Test,” Sanjay Jagdale, the BCCI secretary said. “But I want say that the BCCI has full confidence in the captain and the coach and we are fully supportive of the team. ”
Post the Test debacle in Australia, Amarnath said, the selectors wanted to appoint a young captain for the triangular one-day series that followed, but their decision was overturned. “We selected the team for the triangular series, selected 17 players but we did not select the captain,” he said. “The captain was selected by somebody else.”
Asked whether he questioned the decision, Amarnath said, “When you respect a person you don’t ask questions. But my question is, you have a selection committee those who think what is best for Indian cricket then why they are not given a free hand.” There was massive speculation that this was the reason Amarnath’s term as a selector ended abruptly when he was actually expected to be the new chairman of the selectors. When asked about that, all Amarnath said was: “I don’t miss it.” However, Rajeev Shukla, the IPL chairman, denied any such events happened. “I will not go into what he [Amarnath] has said,” Shukla said. “I don’t think it is appropriate to give statements like this. Whatever one has to say, one can say while participating in the [selection] meeting. Making comments about it, I think, it is not appropriate as it creates some kind of perception in the minds of players and fans. Selectors are independent. They are not under any pressure.”
Amarnath was asked to clarify a rumour doing the rounds that he was cited the BCCI constitution that stated he could not sack Dhoni without the higher-ups clearing it. “Neither will I say yes nor will I deny it, okay,” he responded. “I know the facts, and I will tell you the facts when I feel the time is right.” He did go on to say, though, that he was not aware of the constitution. “When somebody becomes a selector, I don’t think you are aware of the constitution of the BCCI,” he said. “I was not aware. I don’t think even the current committee is aware of the constitution.”
According to the Indian Express, Amarnath, Narendra Hirwani and Raja Venkat, during a meeting in January this year for selecting the squad for the CB Series in Australia, wanted to sack Dhoni.
BCCI deadbats Amarnath’s comments
The BCCI has chosen not to respond to the comments made by former selector Mohinder Amarnath in which he said that MS Dhoni’s sacking from the captaincy role after the tour of Australia was blocked by the BCCI president. “We don’t wish to respond to these allegations at this point when the team is due to play a Test,” Sanjay Jagdale, the BCCI secretary, told ESPNcricinfo. “But I want to say that the BCCI has full confidence in the captain and the coach and we are fully supportive of the team.” According to Amarnath, the selectors wanted to appoint a young captain after India’s Test losses in Australia, but N Srinivasan, the BCCI president, intervened to overrule the selector’s decision. There was massive speculation that Amarnath’s disagreements with the board were the reason his term as a selector ended abruptly when he was actually expected to be the new chairman of the selectors.
India have the character to bounce back: Dhoni
MS Dhoni, India’s under-fire captain, has said this is the time for the team to show character. India are 2-1 down against England and could lose their first Test series at home since 2004 if they don’t win the Nagpur Test. In all they have now lost 10 of their 11 Tests against England and Australia, and almost every player in the side has had his place questioned in recent times. “Not only as a captain, but as an individual too you rarely get these situations,” Dhoni said. “Against South Africa [in 2008], we were in a similar situation, when we were down in the series, going into Kanpur. I won’t say this is a very good situation to be in, but you get to know the character of a team or a person only in tough times. In a way it’s a good situation to be in where we have nowhere to go. We have to do well in this game.” Dhoni said the team has been in good spirits despite the reverses over the last few weeks.
