Mahendra Singh Dhoni refused to take questions on the exclusion of Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly from India's One-Day cricket side.
ADELAIDE: Mahendra Singh Dhoni refused to take questions on the exclusion of Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly from India's One-Day cricket side for next month's triangular series, but defended the timing of the team announcement Tuesday.
India's one-day captain is at the centre of a storm over claims he asked for the two former captains to be replaced with younger blood.
There are concerns the announcement, on the eve of the Adelaide Test, has upset the harmony of the team.
Ganguly apparently asked to be allowed one more one-day series before retiring.
"I think it has affected the (Indian) journalists more than us," Dhoni said. "We are back in the practice session, we train in the morning, so it has not affected us in any way.
"We have one more Test to go. Let's wait six more days and as soon as we land in Melbourne we will answer questions about the one-day squad and the series."
Dhoni defended the timing of the announcement, saying it was a logistical matter for the players still in India.
"If you delay the announcement of the team till the 29th, you would have got the visa on the 30th and by the time you would have got the visa the first one-dayer would have already been gone," he said.
"Sometimes you have to respect time and with the amount of cricket we play sometimes it's a tough decision."
It was put to Dhoni that it might be a "moral victory" for India if it squared the Test series in Adelaide.
"We have played well and it will be a moral victory coming to Australia and not letting the Australian side beat us and giving them a tough fight," he said. "We have played tough cricket for the month that we have been here. It's good for the team's morale and it's good for each and every player who is a part of the side."
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