The BCCI have finally managed to persuade Mahendra Singh Dhoni to come out in front of the media and speak about the ‘rift’ that was originally not supposed to exist. And it sure felt like the game of pool that Greg Chappell and Sourav Ganguly were forced to play in 2005 in Zimbabwe after their big fight.
Dhoni, with a big smile permanently plastered to his face, was was speaking to reporters during a press conference on Saturday. He claimed that the media misinterpreted his comments on the seniors and the rotation policy.
“I do not have any differences with Virender Sehwag. There is no divide in the team. My comments were misinterpreted.” he said.
“You feel a little awkward initially. You may sometimes think the person is actually believing (what’s been reported). And the second person thinks may be he said it. But once you go through the talks, it gets back to as it was.
Dhoni says his quotes were misinterpreted. Getty Images
Dhoni says his quotes were misinterpreted. Getty Images
“It doesn’t even by 10 percent affect our performance or has any effect in the dressing room,” insisted the captain.
The 30-year-old Dhoni defended Sehwag’s assertion that he didn’t need to clarify with his skipper on the comments that the seniors were slow in the field.
“He’s right, why should he have a chat? If there’s nothing why we need to have a chat. When we don’t have a problem, why we need to solve it? There’s nothing negative in it. He is a senior player. We don’t need to clarify. We all have belief in each other as to what was said and what happened. It’s not the first time it has happened.
“The best thing is to get the most out of it. And what’s the most important is to have fun,” said Dhoni.
Dhoni said the atmosphere has always been very good in the dressing room. “It’s always been there. It’s not this series or the previous one. It’s been perfect. It’s talk of the dressing room, we try and take positive out of it.”
During the 2009 Champions Trophy in England, Dhoni decided to quash the word on dissension within the team, parading all the 15 players in front of the media. But he did not see a reason to do the same in the present situation.
“(I haven’t done it) because it was not projected in a nice way. There were 15 players and if A is fighting B, both are now standing on the table (in front of media), both of us could be asked why it’s so.
“It was not projected in the right way so (I said) maybe leave it. What’s the point in fuelling something which is not there,” said Dhoni.
Speaking on Sunday’s clash against Australia on Sunday, Dhoni said there won’t be any rotation in the team and all senior players will feature in the playing XI.
Dhoni added that the team is ready for the contest but was unsure whether Vinay Kumar would feature in final playing XI. There had also been talk that Irfan Pathan might be dropped but that doesn’t look likely now with the rotation policy being scrapped.
“Vinay Kumar is unfit; we are not sure whether he will play. Zaheer Khan might play in his absence.” Dhoni said.
—Agencies