Dhoni Defends His Selection of Players..

[theguyinallblue]

'It's important to send the message across' - Dhoni Mahendra Singh Dhoni hopes India's "significant" victory in the CB Series will silence those who criticised the youth-oriented squad selection for the tournament. Asserting his role in the selection of the young one-day side - he is India's ODI captain - he said it was "sometimes very important to send the message across". "I was pretty clear about the players I wanted in the side," Dhoni told Cricinfo in a revealing interview where he spoke about the selection controversy for the first time. "That's what I said to the selectors as well. You can see the kind of team I got." The team's selection became controversial after Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid were left out. While some criticised the decision to drop the seniors, others questioned the timing of the selection, a day after the historic win in the Perth Test. The selection also created a few ripples in the dressing room, it was learnt then. Dhoni, though, is clear the time had come for a tough decision to be taken and felt vindicated after the final triumph. "It's very important because the process and the timing were criticised a lot," he said. "But sometimes it is very important to send the message across, because sometimes people neglect the answer." He said he pointed out to the ODI team the questions that were being raised about the players and told them to perform. It's evident that the criticism rankles even after winning the tournament. "What now? Why are people not asking the same questions now? Because if the result was not in our favour, what would have happened? Would the people have been really behind this side or behind individuals?" A majority of the team had not played in Australia earlier and certain sections raised questions about their ability to handle demanding conditions. India's pathetic display in the one-off Twenty20 was seen as a sign of things to come but Dhoni was happy his side had overcome the odds. "You [the critics] questioned this side but now that it's performed you need to back it," he said of India's first one-day series win in Australia in 23 years. "We all knew, and you all knew, what would have happened if this side didn't do well in Australia. Now that it has done well, why don't you appreciate the performance? "We had one of the worst flops in Twenty20 and one of the best wins in the ODI series. Beating Australia is tough. That's why they have the best-of-three finals. You can have one good day and beat them but beating them in two consecutive matches is a significant achievement." We had set the standards back in India, when we played [the ODI series] against Australia. We knew what we really wanted to do on the field. If we were not up to the mark in Australia, people would have said it was fake aggression, something just for the public when playing at home Dhoni made it clear that the aggressive tactics against Australia were premeditated, going so far as to ensure that a few individuals made life difficult for the opposition. "In the CB Series you hardly saw any conflict between India and Sri Lanka," he said. "We had set the standards back in India, when we played [the ODI series] against Australia. We knew what we really wanted to do on the field. If we were not up to the mark in Australia, people would have said it was fake aggression, something just for the public when playing at home. We were with the same set of standards even when we played against Australia in Australia. It was not fake aggression, that's how this team can play." Did he think the best way to beat Australia was by playing their brand of cricket? "If your playing against an aggressive side, you need to play an aggressive game," he said. "Especially against Australia, you can't just look to play and win - it's batting, bowling, fielding, aggression, everything. Fortunately this side has got a few players who can speak and do well at the same time and won't get disturbed by it. And there are others who don't speak that much. "But you need to identify those who can be pepped up and do well while they're speaking. In a way I'm fortunate to have those players in the side, rather than ask those who are not comfortable doing it. If you have a guy who is able to do it and who should do it, I make it a point that he is doing it. I won't name names but there were individuals who were saying things, within the boundaries." Despite all the elation over the win, Dhoni said it was important not to get carried away with this victory and urged his players to cultivate the winning habit. "Of course you can't live by it," he said of the recent win. "You need to perform consistently and if you're raising the standard you have to stand by it. You have to keep on doing well." Siddhartha Vaidyanathan and Nagraj Gollapudi are assistant editors at Cricinfo http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/india/content/current/story/343192.html

[theguyinallblue]

Even though australia won a world cup with oldies..but they were extremely fir and in full form.. IMO ODIs are now more of a youth game and a touch of experience... still i believe...Ganguly and Dravid should have been informed about it in advance...They deserve to go with respect and dignity.. i know Ganguly is shameless and is engaged in backroom politics... don't know how Dravid will react to this new development..

[beetle]

Some day a cockier guy will come and kick this snakes teeth out and then rub his face in it ....... This guy can't be graceful in victory...I wonder how he will be once the bad times come.

[Ram]

I love this, for once, I have a straight-shooting, aggressive, intelligent captain who knows how to deal with players in the side and get the best out of them. I mean, its a shame guys like Azharuddin captained us for so long. Not only was he a match fixer, but he was also one of the most boring guys I have ever seen in my life. I can imagine all the players dozing off to sleep by the time the team meeting ends. Its no co-incidence that we have, after nearly 23 years, won the CB series in Aus. Past Indian team lacked aggression and a major part of it was because we were led by lackluster captains like Azhar and Sachin. Now, Dhoni is at the helm and the results are there for all to see. Cant wait for him to be test captain too. Dhoni is fast becoming my most favorite player ever.

[coffee_rules]

He has the backing of stats.. 20-20 WC win and CB series win. With the seniors we lost against Aus 2-4 at home and barely defeated a weak Pak side 3-2.

[Shehezaada]

i like his ideas but I don't like how he speaks to the media about it. These seniors have served india for 15 years...to just say things like that is not professional.

[beetle]

i like his ideas but I don't like how he speaks to the media about it. These seniors have served india for 15 years...to just say things like that is not professional.

So true.... It's almost like he is hell bent on humiliating them.Some day his turn will come and I hope he get it back with interest.

[Ram]

i like his ideas but I don't like how he speaks to the media about it. These seniors have served india for 15 years...to just say things like that is not professional.

So true.... It's almost like he is hell bent on humiliating them.Some day his turn will come and I hope he get it back with interest.

This is the problem with you guys, you have totally misinterpreted Dhoni's motive. You see his moves to drop guys like Dravid and Ganguly as an anti-senior move, and its anything but. Its a pro-India move. There senior were proving to be an unbearable liability in ODIs and if India were to win, they have to dropped, there is no other alternative. How else could Dhoni possibly portray his motives to media, rather than say he wanted a young team ? This isnt being brash, this is being transparent and that is exactly what you want from a leader. In the past, when multiple Indian captains played favorites with certain team members and had them on the team despite repeated poor performance, no one raised a finger-nail in protest. Now, when the newest and most assertive and articulate Indian captain ever takes some tough calls in the team's interest, everyone is inexplicably angered by his arrogance. Dont mistake transparency with arrogance. Dhoni is a confident leader, an assertive leader but not an arrogant one.

[beetle]

Isn't it unprofessional for the VC of the team to talk such crap about two main players of the test team.Kumble should tell this back stabbing snake to keep this drama for the ODI series and not spoil it for his test team.

[fineleg]

MM, MSD can get a young team - but he does not have to go and talk about all this in the media. That is absolutely unnecessary. He can make his decisions in the selection meetings, and then leave it at that. This is just fodder for media, and as Rads says, a day may come when another captain may trash him(msd).

[beetle]

How is he not brash and arrogant? He doesn't miss one chance to put the seniors down be it his interviews or post match comments. He forgets that they are a big part of the test team which he is also a part of. Besides ...most of these youngsters were a part of the earlier team too...what stopped them from performing then. He acts as if Ganguly and Dravid are the sole reason why India didn't win as many games earlier. Does he really have to do this right before the test series. Hasn't he said it enough times already . Fans like you join him in insulting the great players.Shame on you too sriram! You are off my buddy list!:((

[theguyinallblue]

and that captain will be Viru in all probability..

[graphic23]

I don't think so. Its the media who went to him. Plus, how did he disrespect either Dravid or Ganguly? In the ODI series against Australia, Ganguly, though his average doesn't show it, was a liability because of his inability to score quickly in the 35th-40th over period. Dravid, unfortunately, was out of form, and could not contribute to the team through his batting, and though his commitment cannot be questioned, he dropped a few catches near gully or in the slips. Ganguly, though is a very good slip catcher, is only average in the outfield, where you're need most of the time in ODIs. He had to drop them for the fielding to improve. We lost to Australia in that (4th?) ODI when they made 317 by 18 runs, easily runs that could've been saved in the field. I definitely don't think he's blindly supporting juniors in place of these two legends, but rather suggesting that agility is extremely important in the game when the losing margins are between 10 and 20 runs. Plus, its not like the others in the team are completely inexperienced. Yuvraj has played 200 ODis, hardly inexperienced. A few of them have been with the team for a few seasons now. As far as keeping Sachin goes, I don't think anyone can/wants to drop him. Though this might be a controversial point, he is a better fielder than both Ganguly and Dravid. And despite this, we saw him misfield and drop catches quite a few times. So he has his reasons for selecting the team. So when there is a repetitive investigation into his selection of the team, it is natural to shoot back, "Did we not prove that we are capable?" Neither Dravid nor Ganguly will take it offensively. He grew under Dravid's captaincy, so I highly doubt that he has anything against him. Let us hope that his calmness in the field and confident attitude will win us more games. Plus, he is now prepared to drop anyone in the team. The captain ought to be able to do that, unlike previously, when a couple of guys had to always be in the team, so it would be selecting the 7 or 8 players rather than the XI. Let us give him time.

[beetle]

I don't think so. Its the media who went to him. Plus, how did he disrespect either Dravid or Ganguly? In the ODI series against Australia, Ganguly, though his average doesn't show it, was a liability because of his inability to score quickly in the 35th-40th over period. Dravid, unfortunately, was out of form, and could not contribute to the team through his batting, and though his commitment cannot be questioned, he dropped a few catches near gully or in the slips. Ganguly, though is a very good slip catcher, is only average in the outfield, where you're need most of the time in ODIs. He had to drop them for the fielding to improve. We lost to Australia in that (4th?) ODI when they made 317 by 18 runs, easily runs that could've been saved in the field. I definitely don't think he's blindly supporting juniors in place of these two legends, but rather suggesting that agility is extremely important in the game when the losing margins are between 10 and 20 runs. Plus, its not like the others in the team are completely inexperienced. Yuvraj has played 200 ODis, hardly inexperienced. A few of them have been with the team for a few seasons now. As far as keeping Sachin goes, I don't think anyone can/wants to drop him. Though this might be a controversial point, he is a better fielder than both Ganguly and Dravid. And despite this, we saw him misfield and drop catches quite a few times. So he has his reasons for selecting the team. So when there is a repetitive investigation into his selection of the team, it is natural to shoot back, "Did we not prove that we are capable?" Neither Dravid nor Ganguly will take it offensively. He grew under Dravid's captaincy, so I highly doubt that he has anything against him. Let us hope that his calmness in the field and confident attitude will win us more games. Plus, he is now prepared to drop anyone in the team. The captain ought to be able to do that, unlike previously, when a couple of guys had to always be in the team, so it would be selecting the 7 or 8 players rather than the XI. Let us give him time.

Oh yeah...the back stabbing snake didn't even have the decency to face him and let him know of the decision in person. He seems (at least for now) to be a good captain but has shown himself to be a very very small man.

[theguyinallblue]

actually beetle..Ganguly was one of the reasons we lost the ODI series in england...i believe so..

[beetle]

You will even blame the Tunami on ganguly sandeep......:D

[graphic23]

Oh yeah...the back stabbing snake didn't even have the decency to face him and let him know of the decision in person. He seems (at least for now) to be a good captain but has shown himself to be a very very small man.

I do not think you realize how much respect the seniors demand in the Indian team. They are virtual Gods. (and in Rahul's case, he deserves to be a God since he is India's greatest matchwinner), but I don't think the captain should be the one telling them because it is extremely difficult to let them know that they have been dropped. I blame the selectors for how this was handled because they could've kept quiet and said that they selected a young team in vision of the future rather than blame Dhoni for it. It is unfair to say that Dhoni is a backstabber to Dravid because he has said several times how much he respects him because of his consistency, commitment, etc. He has learned a lot of things from him.

[fineleg]

The captain ought to be able to do that' date= unlike previously, when a couple of guys had to always be in the team, so it would be selecting the 7 or 8 players rather than the XI. Let us give him time.

ofcourse, captain ought to be able to do it, just do it, but dont feed the media. in india, media will make more stories and we have a test series where they need to play together. All MSD had to say was - "I'm glad our team did very well in Aus" - period. No need to "elaborate" to media.

[yoda]

The guy's lack of education does show. That said, all I care is wins.

[fineleg]

The guy's lack of education does show. That said, all I care is wins.

Ofcourse, win is a win. But you are right. It shows. as a person who flaunts and gloats and rubs it in.