Dhoni’s ODI captaincy was in question after ‘shock’ Test exit – Patil

Sandeep Patil, India’s former chairman of selectors, has said “there were lots of discussions” around the future of MS Dhoni’s limited-overs captaincy around the time he retired from Test cricket in December 2014. Dhoni’s unexpected exit from the longest format mid-way through India’s Test series in Australia came as a “shock”, Patil said, but he was happy that Dhoni decided to move on when he realised his mental and physical fitness were not up to scratch.

Patil, whose four-year term as chief selector ended today, said his panel deliberated making a leadership change in ODIs then, but eventually decided not to, keeping in mind the 2015 World Cup was only a couple of months away at the time. “Absolutely [Dhoni’s captaincy was under threat]. There were lots of discussions that happened regarding that, [and] it’s not like they happened once, they happened a lot,” Patil told ABP News. “There was discussion about his one-day captaincy, there were discussions on his finishing…

“But we selected him because… a time had come, the World Cup had come – [if] you try, before the World Cup, giving a new player the captaincy seat, [you should] give him a good run. But that opportunity didn’t come to the selectors. We didn’t have enough time to experiment.”

Dhoni, who still captains India in ODIs and T20s, had announced his retirement shortly after the Boxing Day Test ended in Melbourne, with the team trailing 2-0 after three matches with one to play. Patil said that Australian tour was a tough one for the team and Dhoni’s decision was “sudden”, but he was best placed to decide on his future. “I wouldn’t want to say… that it was a sinking ship, but it was a tough series. Our players had to face quite a few difficulties there, the performance wasn’t quite right, save for Virat Kohli.

“In such a situation, for a senior player to take this decision – to suddenly …

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