Former chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil has made some surprising revelations about Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Speaking to ABP News on Wednesday, the former Indian cricketer said that the selection panel was contemplating the idea of sacking the then Indian Test skipper Dhoni. However, Patil admitted that Dhoni’s sudden retirement from Tests left the panel surprised.
“Of course, we had a brief discussion about it (removing Dhoni from captaincy) on a few occasions. We wanted to experiment by handing the baton (to somebody) but we thought the time was not right with World Cup (2015) round the corner,” Patil said.
Patil said that they decided to retain Dhoni as the captain because of the World Cup.
“We felt that new captain should be given some time to set things right. Keeping that in mind in the World Cup, we had gone with Dhoni.
He also said that Kohli is capable of leading the team in the shorter formats too but the decision to appoint him as the captain of all formats depends on the new selectors.
“I believe Virat got the captaincy at the right time. Virat can lead the team in shorter formats as well but that decision rests with the new selection committee,” opined Patil.
Expressing his shock over Dhoni’s decision to retire from the Tests midway through the series in Australia, Patil said: “It was a very tough series. I won’t say Dhoni was captain of a sinking ship but things quite didn’t move in our favour. And in this backdrop, one of your senior players decides to retire. That was shocking but at the end of the day, it was his (Dhoni’s) personal decision.”
Meanwhile, when the outgoing chairman of selectors was asked to compare between the captaincy of Kohli and Dhoni, he said:“North Pole and South Pole. Every captain has a desire to create his own team and knows the ability of his players. Virat is known as the ‘Angry Young Man’ but it’s a controlled aggression. Dhoni is calm but always speaks his mind.”
The former cricketer also revealed that Dhoni never opposed Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir’s selection in the team contrary to the popular belief.
I feel disappointed when I read reports about Dhoni’s relation with Gambhir and Yuvraj. Dhoni never opposed their selection,” he said.
“It was completely the selectors’ decision to drop them and Dhoni did not have any say in dropping Gambhir and Yuvraj. Both the captains never opposed any player.”