Former selection committee considered removing MS Dhoni from captaincy, reveals Sandeep Patil

Just days after stepping down from his post as the chief of the BCCI’s selection committee, former Indian skipper Sandeep Patil has dropped a huge bombshell by claiming that his team had considered dropping MS Dhoni as the Indian skipper in the shorter formats of the game on quite a few occasions.

Dhoni was first named as the skipper of the Indian T20 side prior to the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 which the Men in Blue went on to lift the trophy beating arch-rivals Pakistan in the final. He later went on to assume the role in the ODI and Test formats as well before a shock retirement from the longest format of the game during India’s tour of Australia in 2014-15 meant Virat Kohli taking on the mantle in the 5-day format.

While it is a foregone conclusion that Kohli will take over from Dhoni once the 35-year-old quits from all forms of the game, Patil revealed that a discussion to this effect had already taken place within the selection panel – that too more than once.

He revealed that the biggest threat to Dhoni’s captaincy came prior to the 2015 World Cup only for the selection committee deciding against such a big change prior to an important ICC tournament.

"Of course, we had a brief discussion about it (removing Dhoni from captaincy) on a few occasions. We wanted to experiment by handing the baton (to somebody) but we thought the time was not right with World Cup (2015) round the corner," Patil told ABP News on Wednesday. "We felt that new captain should be given some time to set things right. Keeping that in mind in the World Cup, we had gone with Dhoni.”

I believe Virat got the (Test) captaincy at the right time: Patil

While Dhoni went on to lead India to the semi-finals stage in both the 2015 World Cup as well as the 2016 World T20, Kohli has done even better having led India to away Test series triumphs in Sri Lanka and West Indies as well as a convincing home series win over South Africa in 2015.

Patil expects Kohli’s success story to continue in the shorter formats as well once he takes over the mantle from Dhoni.

“I believe Virat got the (Test) captaincy at the right time. Virat can lead the team in shorter formats as well but that decision rests with the new selection committee," Patil said.

Revealing his thoughts on Dhoni’s sudden retirement, Patil admitted that he was taken aback by the decision at first but admitted that there was little he could do about it.

"It was a very tough series (India’s tour of Australia in 2014-15). I won't say Dhoni was captain of a sinking ship but things quite didn't move in our favour. And in this backdrop, one of your senior players decides to retire. That was shocking but at the end of the day, it was his (Dhoni's) personal decision," he said.

Similar to Ajinkya Rahane’s recent comments comparing the captaincy styles of Dhoni and Kohli, Patil said that the two were at opposite ends of the spectrum.

"North Pole and South Pole. Every captain has a desire to create his own team and knows the ability of his players. Virat is known as the 'Angry Young Man' but it's a controlled aggression. Dhoni kept calm but always spoke his mind,” Patil said.

While Gautam Gambhir’s failure to win a place in India’s series opener against New Zealand despite scoring four back-to-back half-centuries in the Duleep Trophy has created some controversy, Patil defended Kohli and Dhoni, who had faced criticism from the well-wishers of Yuvraj Singh, including his father Yograj Singh, when the talented all-rounder found himself out of the Indian team, saying that it was the selection committee that made the call and not the skippers in charge.

“I feel disappointed when I read reports about Dhoni's relation with Gambhir and Yuvraj. Dhoni never opposed their selection," said Patil. “It was completely the selectors' decision to drop them and Dhoni did not have any say in dropping Gambhir and Yuvraj. Both the captains never opposed any player."