3 cricketers who gave controversial statements on MS Dhoni after retirement

Former India cricketer and Bengal legend Manoj Tiwary has stated that he would like to ask MS Dhoni why he was dropped despite scoring a century in a one-day international. The 38-year-old boasted that he had the potential to be a Rohit Sharma or a Virat Kohli, but lamented the lack of opportunities given to him at the top level.

After a stellar domestic career during which he played 148 first-class matches, amassing 10,195 runs at an average of 47.86, Tiwary decided to hang up his boots. While he had a memorable career for Bengal, the right-handed batter only played 12 ODIs for India, scoring 287 runs, with a best of 104* against West Indies in Chennai.

Speaking on the sidelines of his felicitation at the Calcutta Sports Journalists' Club in Kolkata, Tiwary was quoted as saying by PTI:

“I would like to ask Dhoni why was I dropped from the playing XI in 2011 after scoring a century? I had the potential to be a hero just like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli but could not be. Today, when I see many people getting more opportunities on TV, I feel sad.”

In the wake of Tiwary’s statement, we look at three other Indian cricketers who made controversial statements about Dhoni after their retirement.

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#1 Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh (left) and MS Dhoni (Pic: Getty Images)

Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has voiced his displeasure over his treatment by Dhoni post the 2011 World Cup pretty clear. The cricketer retired from all forms of the game in December 2021. Just a few days after hanging up his boots, he opened up about his disappointment over not being given a reason for being dropped from the Indian team.

“I was 31 when I picked up my 400th Test wicket, and if a 31-year-old can pick up 400 wickets, then in the next eight-nine years, I feel I could have taken at least a hundred more. But after that, I didn’t get to play matches; neither was I selected. How can someone with 400 wickets be discarded is a mysterious story in itself, which hasn’t been unraveled yet. I still wonder, ‘What really happened? Who had a problem with me staying in the team?’,” Harbhajan told India TV.

“I tried to ask the captain [Dhoni] why, but I wasn’t given a reason. I realized there is no point in me asking for the reason for this treatment, and who is behind it because if you keep asking and no one replies, then it’s better to leave it,” the former off-spinner added.

Harbhajan played 103 Tests, 236 ODIs and 28 T20Is, claiming 711 international wickets. His last match for India was a T20I against UAE in Mirpur during the 2016 Asia Cup.

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#2 Gautam Gambhir

MS Dhoni (left) with Gautam Gambhir (Pic: Getty Images)

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir has been a vocal critic of Dhoni in his post-retirement years. He has made no bones about his opinion that the latter has got a lot more credit than he has deserved for the 2007 and 2011 World Cup triumphs. According to Gambhir, players like Yuvraj Singh have not got their due even as MSD keeps getting praise for his achievements.

Without naming Dhoni, Gambhir said, while speaking to News18 in 2023, that one individual and his PR team keep telling everyone who won India the 2007 and the 2011 World Cups.

“It’s unfortunate that when we talk about the 2007 and 2011 World Cups, we don’t take Yuvraj Singh’s name. Why not? It’s only and only marketing and PR and portraying one individual as the biggest and everyone else as smaller than him,” Gambhir said.

“No one is underrated, it’s all PR and marketing. We have been told who won us the 2007 and 2011 World Cups [but] it was not one individual it was the entire team. No one individual can win a big tournament. If that was the case, India would’ve had 5-10 World Cups,” he added.

Incidentally, Gambhir was the top-scorer for Team India in both the 2007 and 2011 World Cup finals.

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#3 Virender Sehwag

Indian players during a 2011 World Cup training session. (Pic: Getty Images)

There was a massive controversy in Indian cricket in 2012 when Virender Sehwag openly questioned Dhoni’s rotation policy during the CB series in Australia. He countered the captain’s claim that seniors like himself, Sachin Tendulkar and Gambhir would have to be rotated since they are slow fielders and could cost the side at least 20 runs.

Later, the alleged rift between Sehwag and Dhoni was reportedly sorted. The controversy, however, was reignited in 2020 when the former claimed that Dhoni did not discuss the slow fielding issue with seniors and directly spoke about it in the media.

“When MS Dhoni said in Australia that the top three are slow fielders, we were never asked or consulted. We got to know from the media. He said at the press conference but not at the team meeting that we are slow fielders. Talk at the team meeting was that we need to play Rohit Sharma, who is new, and that’s why there will be rotation policy. If the same is happening now, that’s wrong,” Sehwag told Cricbuzz during a discussion.

Sehwag announced his retirement in October 2015. In 104 Tests, he scored 8,586 runs at an average of 49.34. In ODIs, he totaled 8,273 runs in 251 matches, averaging 35.05.