N Srinivasan admits shielding MS Dhoni

Chennai: Former national selector Mohinder Amarnath wanted to drop M.S. Dhoni as captain in 2012, but the then BCCI president N. Srinivasan saved the player from the axe. The Tamil Nadu administrator has admitted that he did veto the selectors’ attempt to remove Dhoni as captain.

“Yes, it is true that I vetoed the decision to drop Dhoni as captain. How can you drop someone as captain within a year of his lifting the World Cup?” Srinivasan was quoted as saying in TV anchor Rajdeep Sardesai’s latest book — Democracy’s XI.

“What you call favouritism I say is my respect for a top-class cricketer’s achievements,” Srinivasan added.

“We appreciated his cricket, he gave us respect in turn, what is wrong with that?” asked Srinivasan.

Dhoni has also defended his equation with Srinivasan, claiming that the former board chief was a true supporter of Indian cricket. “I really don’t care what people say; I found Srinivasan as someone who was always there to help cricketers,” Dhoni was also quoted as saying in the book.

After the spot-fixing scandal broke out in IPL, Dhoni was accused of not revealing the true extend of the involvement of Gurunath Meiyappan, Srinivasan’s son-in-law. However, Dhoni said: “Let me tell you, it is an absolute lie that I told a probe panel that Meiyappan was only a cricket enthusiast; all I said is he had nothing to do with the team’s on-field cricketing decisions. I can’t even pronounce the word “enthusiast”,” he said with a touch of sarcasm.

According to Dhoni, the most troubling moment came in 2013-14 with the insinuation that he was involved in ‘fixing’ IPL matches. “That is where I really have to draw the line. Please criticise me but how can you accuse me of something like fixing a cricket game after all that the game has given me. For mediapersons to say things like “there can be no smoke without fire” is crazy. That is why I don’t want to even talk to the media,” he said.