Humboldt State can’t complete comeback, fall to Chico State

MS Dhoni does not care about what the media has to say about him. He has brushed aside his detractors and laughed off criticism with witty one-liners that have often made good headlines. But the 35-year-old cannot ignore what Sandeep Patil, the outgoing chairman of selectors revealed in an interview with ABP’s Marathi station. (Selectors did discuss about removing MS Dhoni from captaincy: Sandeep Patil) Honest and forever candid with his views, Patil was bound to dodge direct questions on Dhoni’s future as captain of India’s limited-overs sides but having finished his term, the former middle-order batsman said his committee had indeed discussed removing Dhoni as captain of the ODI and T20I teams, especially after his shock retirement from Test cricket at the end of 2014, in the middle of a series against Australia. Dhoni, as is his wont, surprised everyone with his exit from the Test arena. India had lost successive series overseas and were having a tough time Down Under but at least they had chalked out a draw at the MCG – a rare achievement in Australia under his command. But soon after the post-match press conference, BCCI sent out a cryptic note, informing the world that Dhoni, India’s most successful captain of all time, had had enough of five-day cricket. (Sachin Tendulkar would’ve been dropped in 2012 had he not quit ODIs, reveals Sandeep Patil) There were no further comments – neither from the board nor Dhoni nor the selectors. Patil now says Dhoni told him that his decision was made because he did not feel up to scratch – physically and mentally.advertisement In a more telling revelation, Patil, who had through his tenure refused to answer questions related to Dhoni’s captaincy, said the selectors had discussed the burning issue not once but several times. However, with the World Cup barely a few weeks away, the committee decided to stick to the old guard. “But we selected him because? a time had come, the World Cup had come – if you try, before the World Cup, giving a new player the captaincy seat, give him a good run. But that opportunity didn’t come to the selectors. We didn’t have enough time to experiment,” Patil said. When Dhoni bowed out of Test cricket (without the need to ask for a farewell series), there was a feeling he would go out all guns blazing in the shorter formats. His form was patchy and his abilities to finish close games had come under the scanner. But without the pressure of Test cricket, Dhoni was expected to up the ante and rediscover his golden touch. India waited and waited, first through a tri-series that followed the Tests and then the World Cup, where as defending champions, they played spectacularly before a crushing defeat to Australia in the semi-finals. But Dhoni’s resurgence never came. There were series in Bangladesh and one at home against South Africa, where Dhoni did get some runs but his genius was missing. A tour of Australia at the dawn of 2016 did nothing to redeem his lost stature. India did play exceptionally well in the T20 format this year but failed to reach the final of the World T20 at home. If Dhoni did not feel fit and ready for Test cricket, he did not show that he was actually ready for the demands of 50-over cricket either. Since he retired from Tests, Dhoni has scored 726 runs from 28 ODIs at an average of 38.21. This period (from January 2015 onwards) also saw India lose back-to-back bilateral series against Bangladesh, South Africa and Australia. Dhoni’s only triumphant moment came in Zimbabwe, where he oversaw a 3-0 whitewash of the hosts. Yet, Patil did not want to make that tough call. The World Cup was played more than a year ago and one suspects his committee still had plenty of time to ease the beleaguered captain out and place Kohli at the helm of Indian cricket. Why, for all facts and purposes, is Dhoni still there? Obviously  Patil did not want to make a controversial decision: he said he was happy enough to leave that call to the new selection committee. At a time when Virat Kohli is on the rampage – he butchered the Australian attack in five-match series India lost in January and scored loads of runs in the T20 format including 973 in the IPL, studded with four hundreds. To top that, Kohli has won seven out of the 14 Tests he has led India in – his captaincy credentials are therefore beyond doubt. The new selection committee, under the stewardship of MSK Prasad will of course have to take that call but they would be pressed against time. The Champions Trophy is a year away and before you know it, the 2019 World Cup would be upon the world. The new selectors are inexperienced and might feel the heat if they had to take a call on Dhoni. It would be much easier for all the stakeholders involved if the skipper decided to step down himself. But remember that infamous, snarky comment to an Australian reporter, who asked Dhoni what his plans were after India were knocked out of the World T20? It is a complicated road ahead for Indian cricket.WATCH: MS Dhoni’s reply to a journalist who asked him about his retirement plans #WT20 #IndvsWIhttps://t.co/STYW5Hh4xnadvertisement ANI (@ANI_news) March 31, 2016 read more