Srikkanth slams Dhoni after Chennai’s seventh defeat
Abu Dhabi, UAE - Kris Srikkanth, the former India captain and chairman of the selection committee, had strong words for MS Dhoni after the Chennai Super Kings succumbed to a seven-wicket loss against the Rajasthan Royals, calling his selections throughout the season as 'ridiculous' and 'rubbish'.
Monday's defeat was the Super Kings' seventh of the tournament, leaving them rooted to the bottom of the points table and in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in their history.
After the game, Dhoni told the official broadcaster Star Sports that the youngsters in the team had not showed him the kind of 'spark' that would have warranted their inclusion in the side.
A visibly distraught Srikkanth, however, rubbished all of Dhoni's claims, taking particular umbrage over the continued selections of Piyush Chawla and Kedar Jadhav, who he had suggested needed a scooter to move around quickly on the field.
"I will never accept what Dhoni is saying about this process," Srikkanth told Star Sports Tamil. "This process he keeps talking about is meaningless. You keep talking about process, process... but the process of selection itself is wrong."
Srikkanth, who was the brand ambassador of the Super Kings franchise during the inaugural IPL season, singled out the case of N Jagadeesan as an example of someone who had not been given a fair chance in the team; Jagadeesan has played just one game all season, scoring 33 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Jadhav, meanwhile, has played eight matches making just 62 runs in total, and has struggled to make an impact.
"What is Dhoni's deal? He says Jagadeesan doesn't have spark, but does 'scooter' Jadhav have that spark? This is ridiculous. I will not accept this answer today. All this talk of process, and Chennai's tournament itself is over.
"Dhoni now says that since the pressure is off, he'll give the youngsters a chance. Come on, yaar. I don't understand this rubbish about the process at all. What spark didn't he see in Jagadeesan? What spark did he see in Jadhav and Piyush Chawla?
"Karn Sharma at least took wickets. Chawla simply goes through the motions of bowling, coming on when the game is already lost. Dhoni may be a pistha (big shot) and there is no doubt he is great, but I cannot agree with him or accept this."
Dhoni admitted that they are having a poor run. "It's fair enough, this season we weren't there," Dhoni said.
Dhoni, 39, said his team, dubbed as the 'Dad's Army' by the media, will give the youngsters a go in the remaining games of the league.
"Today the result what it really does is give those guys (youngsters), whatever is left in our league stage, a chance and they play without pressure," said the veteran wicketkeeperbatsman.