Dhoni never opposed selection of Gambhir, Yuvraj, clarifies Patil

New Delhi: Clarifying doubts of many, former chairman of selection committee Sandeep Patil on Wednesday revealed that Indian ODI and T20 skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had never opposed the selection of Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh.

It has happened several times that Gambhir and Yuvraj have failed to make it for the Indian team despite giving great performances in the domestic or IPL games. Several blame MSD for the same.

In an interview to a leading news channel, Patil said:

• Every skipper knows the team strength has always has aspiration to create according to himself.
• Both Dhoni and Virat are different; one is aggressive while other remains calm.
• I went into a state of disappointment whenever I read reports regarding Dhoni opposing Gambhir and Yuvraj’s selection in the team.

Dropping Gambhir, Yuvraj or any other is always selector’s call and no any skipper has a say in it. He said both Dhoni and Virat never opposed any player.

He also revealed that there were talks in the selection committee regarding the removal of Dhoni as a skipper. “But his retirement from Tests has came as a shocker,” Patil added.

What else Sandeep Patil said?

• It happened several times when we discussed regarding the removal of MSD as a skipper.
• Selection committee was planning to give the captaincy to somebody else but then changed our thought as 2015 World Cup was on the cards.
• Virat Kohli has proved himself as an able skipper in Tests and could also do so in shorter formats.

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