Senior players didn't ask for break, says Srikkanth

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More... Senior players didn't ask for break, says Srikkanth By: Sai Mohan Date: 2011-05-14 Place: Banglore The national selection committee took a last-minute decision to rest captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the five-match ODI series in the West Indies. It is learnt that Dhoni had not requested for a break, and was eying a second honeymoon of sorts with wife Sakshi, in the Caribbean. It is learnt that Dhoni was keen on playing three ODIs, before handing the gloves to Parthiv Patel. "None of the senior players wrote to us or requested for leave. We realised that there are seven tough Tests (against West Indies and England) in the next three months. It's important for all our senior players to be in top fitness," chairman of selectors, Krishnamachari Srikkanth told MiD DAY. "Zaheer, Tendulkar and Dhoni will be available for the Tests. Sehwag's availability is subject to fitness," he said, before adding: "The rest of the squad picked itself. Don't forget, this is a World Champion side." As expected, Subramaniam Badrinath and Rohit Sharma came into the side for Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag; Ishant Sharma for S Sreesanth, while Amit Mishra was recalled to the ODI squad. Vinay Kumar and Praveen Kumar were also named in the squad for one-off T20 and five ODIs. It's unlikely that Saha will get a game with Parthiv expected to open the batting alongside Gautam Gambhir. The decision to leave out Murali Vijay mainly came after his poor performance in South Africa. "He was found wanting in South Africa (during the ODIs). We felt it's a better option to have Parthiv since he's an opener," said a selector. Sreesanth and Piyush Chawla were dropped for a poor World Cup showing. The Squad India's T20 and ODI squad: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Suresh Raina (vice-captain), Parthiv Patel, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Subramaniam Badrinath, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Vinay Kumar, Yusuf Pathan, Amit Mishra, Wriddhiman Saha

[Prakat]

Good to have this sorted out once and for all. Lot of bs flying around about the commitment of senior players.

[vvvslaxman]

you can call Srikkanth anything. But he is not biased. He aways makes honest assessment about players. If at all there are any suspicious selections most likely it would be due to influence from others.

[saneindian]

The same article appeared on NDTV site under a different headline. "Dhoni eyed 2nd honeymoon, Board said rest" http://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/news/item/173479-dhoni-eyed-2nd-honeymoon-board-said-rest

[Sachin=GOD]

Good decision by the selectors. Not only did the seniors deserve a rest but also it was time to give some of the youngsters a chance.

[anotherhawkeye]

Agree. Very happy with the selection. Looking forward to seeing our youngsters perform.

[ganeshran]

The "Dhoni eyes second honeymoon" sentence is totally unnecessary and sensationalism on the part of NTDV and MidDay. He is eager to represent the country, and these media houses paint it in a shameful way. If Sehwag chooses to get surgery done, they will say "he chose club over country"

[vvvslaxman]

The "Dhoni eyes second honeymoon" sentence is totally unnecessary and sensationalism on the part of NTDV and MidDay. He is eager to represent the country, and these media houses paint it in a shameful way. If Sehwag chooses to get surgery done, they will say "he chose club over country"

+1 If he wanted a honeymoon in Windies.. he doesn't need a tour. He can go on his own.

[koksmayu]

You r from south?

[kubrickian]

You can trust Indian media to turn anything positive into negative. Dhoni not asking for a break = eyeing second honeymoon with Sakshi ? WTF ?

[ravishingravi]

Thanks Anna. We trust you of take care of our seniors.

[Karan114]

BCCI secretary put personal interest above country BCCI secretary put personal interest above country Pradeep Magazine, Hindustan Times May 15, 2011 No one should have a problem with the selectors for not picking three key players, including the captain, to play for their country because their tired limbs needed rest. I would go one step further and ask why did they not rest the entire Indian team, which would be as exhausted as Messrs Dhoni, Tendulkar and Zaheer, after having been on the road for months together, a period in which they won the World Cup for India. Why should a select few be more tired than others? Does this mean some are more equal than the others? It is a question, which has been largely left ignored after the selection of the India team for the tour of the West Indies was made on Friday. Does this silence from the media mean that in the country versus club debate, the India players should be given immunity just because the IPL is supposed to be the most "valued" cricket brand the country has produced? Double Standards Is it fine for us to discuss and be critical of the Sri Lankans revolting against their board and giving primacy to IPL money over playing for their county, but when it comes to our own, we should keep quiet? There is a serious problem here which arises when the Indian Board lets them play for privately owned teams immediately after the World Cup — for a period that would have been sufficient for everyone who needed time off to rest and to recover from their niggles — but does not mind their skipping national duty. When Lalit Modi created this brand — and by all accounts a hugely popular one — he was still pilloried for favouring his cronies and finally hanged for using his position as the IPL chairman in doling out favours to those close to him. The primary opposition came from within the board itself, with the present secretary N Srinivasan being at the forefront of this 'expose' Modi campaign. Vested Interest Srinivasan, who owns the Chennai Super Kings, has a vested interest in IPL becoming a profitable brand for the franchisees regardless of what the consequences are. And no one in the board talks openly about his conflict of interests. Can anyone, no matter what his biases are, justify Dhoni being made to play for the Chennai team when he needs rest, but being allowed to rest when he is to play for India? Doesn't Srinivasan need to explain to the cricket fans across the globe whose side is he on? As the board secretary, isn't his duty to guide and tell the players that playing for India is more important than playing for a private club? He, in this case, has obviously chosen his personal interests above those of the board and the country. Players like Dhoni and Tendulkar are men of high integrity, and even if they had not made the millions they have from the game, they would have preferred to rest during IPL, so that they would have regained prime fitness before the start of the West Indies tour. But the question that needs to be asked is: Did they have a choice? Certainly not, given the feudal manner in which India's “democratically†elected board functionaries operate. http://www.hindustantimes.com/BCCI-secy-put-personal-interest-above-country/Article1-697672.aspx

[Ultimate_Game]

Nothing new here. We know Srinivasan (BCCI secretary) and Sreekanth (chief selector) are involved with CSK but hey in India there's no such thing as "accountability" and "conflict of interests". Plus we all saw what happened when Aus toured India in 2004 which Ind lost at home for the first time since 1967 to Aus 2-1. And the main reason for that loss was the Nagpur pitch which was more English/Australian than Indian. The reason for that pitch was Dalmiya had pipped Pawar as the BCCI chief and Pawar took revenge by asking Shashank Manohar to preapre the pitch since India was led by Ganguly (Damiya's blue eyed boy at the time). Folks like Pawar and manohar didn't even think twice in jeopardizing India's record - all it mattered to them was scoring some brownie points in some petty BCCI politics! And now the same folks (Pawar & Manohar) are running BCCI!!! So no surprizes there. It's amazing what India has achieved recently considering how BCCI functions, and India's achievements are despite and not because of BCCI.

[yoda]

***yawn***. Another N. Srinivasan rant all over again. BCCI is more than just N. Srinivasan. You have Pawar, Manohar, ... IPL is part of Indian cricket and the cricketer's schedule. Players are happy to play in it, are raking in millions, the team is #1 in tests and ODI WC champion. So time for others to STFU and let the players and the board figure this out instead of picking and choosing whom to blame.

[cowboysfan]

I dont know if Dhoni would have opted out of the ipl if he had a choice,its easy money and i dont think he would pass on it.

[Zap_Brannigan]

1. Does this journalist think that players who are fighting for their spot like Raina, Pathan etc would want to skip the series? Yes, some are more equal that others. Zaheer, Sachin and Bhajji are into their 30's while the players selected for the WI are in their 20s. Only exception is Dhoni who is also a wicketkeeper. So it was obvious that the players with the most workload and in their 30's were given a rest as opposed to a 23 year old who is dying to get some good scores and become a permanent fixture in the team. 2. I dont know why he would think that we were against SL players revolting against their board. Infact, most of us were against their idiotic dilly-dallying board. The only double standard is that this guy and many others, expect the players to put the country above money but is not willing to do it themselves. 3.So everyone, all the people in BCCI, the players, the selectors, are all working to please one man?

[anotherhawkeye]

What a time waste article...

[anotherhawkeye]

1. Does this journalist think that players who are fighting for their spot like Raina, Pathan etc would want to skip the series? Yes, some are more equal that others. Zaheer, Sachin and Bhajji are into their 30's while the players selected for the WI are in their 20s. Only exception is Dhoni who is also a wicketkeeper. So it was obvious that the players with the most workload and in their 30's were given a rest as opposed to a 23 year old who is dying to get some good scores and become a permanent fixture in the team. 2. I dont know why he would think that we were against SL players revolting against their board. Infact, most of us were against their idiotic dilly-dallying board. The only double standard is that this guy and many others, expect the players to put the country above money but is not willing to do it themselves. 3.So everyone, all the people in BCCI, the players, the selectors, are all working to please one man?

Well said.

[saneindian]

unneceesary rant, MSD still wanted to go and play. Sachin and Zaheer have earned a right to pick and chose which ODI series they want to play in.

[Raghav_12]

Reminds of Michael Hussey who last year had complained that CA had forced him to play in Champions League instead of preparing for Indian tour. Looking at the model of world cricket evolving right now, it is difficult to say that all tournaments like IPL, CL should be given lesser importance even than the most irrelevant of international tours. I think Ind-WI ODI series falls in the category of one of most irrelevant international tourney.