Jimmy says BCCI prez saved Dhoni's captaincy

Krishnamachari Srikkanth virtually endorsed Mohinder Amarnath’s claim that MS Dhoni had come close to being sacked as captain after the disastrous Test series against Australia earlier this year. “I admit the captaincy issue was discussed after the 0-4 loss in Australia. We had a lengthy discussion about whether we should replace the captain,” Srikkanth, former chairperson of the selection panel, told DNA. “But I cannot comment on the decision we had taken.”

Amarnath on Wednesday named BCCI president N Srinivasan as the person who overruled the “unanimous” decision of the previous selection panel to replace Dhoni as captain. “All five selectors supported it. The board president (Srinivasan) did not approve the unanimous decision,” the former India all-rounder said. “Why do you need a selection committee if one person needs to be at the helm of affairs. We should not be there.”

As a matter of practice, the selection committee is required to obtain go-ahead from the BCCI president after selecting a team. Amarnath said the selection committee had picked 17 players for the tri-series but had not named a captain. “The captain was selected by somebody else,” he said.