Are the Indian selectors toothless tigers?

Mohinder Amarnath’s recent allegation about how the whole Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s removal after India’s 0-4 whitewash in Australia was dealt with has created a storm in the Indian cricket fraternity.


The former North Zone selector Amarnath in an interview to Times Now said, “Definitely, there were discussions to replace Dhoni and people had even agreed to do so, but for some internal reason it didn’t happen. I would not like to divulge what the reasons were.”


He did not divulge any further information but Indian Express went on to speak with Raja Venkat, former East Zone selector who said, “Sanjay Jagdale, the BCCI secretary and convener of the national selection committee, consulted BCCI president N Srinivasan who shot down the proposal. Srinivasan made it clear that though the majority of selectors felt that Dhoni didn’t inspire confidence as Test skipper, the time was not right to remove him.”


With majority of the selectors including Amarnath, Venkat and Central Zone selector Narendra Hirwani was in favour of dropping Dhoni after the dismal performance, but Srinvasan was against it.


The move could by no means have been successful after Srinivasan’s denial as the BCCI constitution has a clause which apparently states that the approval of the president is required while selecting the team.


Well, reason exactly not known as of yet why was proposal overlooked but then what the allegation does is that it throws light on how the cricket body in India is run.


Amarnath’s s statement does not help but makes one wonder why is there even a selection committee when the right to take the final call is vested upon the president.


After what had transpired in Dhoni’s case, it would not be harsh to say that the selectors are toothless tigers in this whole setting and work as a puppet to the higher authorities.


Because if three out of five member people thought of dropping Dhoni, ideally it should have happened but it never saw the light of the day.


There can be only two reasons for not dropping Dhoni even after selection committee’s insistence and they are either Srinivasan did not have faith in them or he just never wanted to change anything and let the sport be run the way it always used to be.


Whichever might be the reason, calling BCCI wrong will not be improper. Even selectors never could generate the faith, why were they selected at the first place?


It is a known fact and even in the past players have received immense patronage from the board president and nothing can be done about it.


But then what it does is that in the longer run the interest of cricket that gets side-tracked.


Dhoni’s case is a classic example to that. Dhoni did not receive the axe because of the people at helm and what happened is for everyone to see.


India are already 1-2 down in the ongoing series are poised for their first home series against England in 27 years.


Recent developments in Indian cricket show that the time has indeed come to change and the people at power should put the sport ahead of anything.


BCCI is an autonomous body and is not answerable to anyone, but in a nation where cricket is something which is equivalent to religion and cricketers are nothing less than Gods, demands an answer.

 

 

By Indian Sports News Network

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