New Delhi - Outgoing India chairperson of selector's Sandeep
Patil has revealed that much discussion took place after MS Dhoni retired from
Test cricket and the panel considered axing the legendary batsman from the ODI
captaincy.
Patil confessed that Dhoni's decision came as a shock to the
panel, but admitted that he was glad that the skipper knew his time was up at
Test level and called it quits.
The former head of selectors told ABP News: "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.
"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 retired after a disastrous tour to Australia and while
Patil describes it as a shock he had to admit the writing was on the wall.
Patil added: "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 take this decision - was shocking. There was a lot of
discussion even among us [selectors], 'How did this happen?'
"But it was his decision. What the player is thinking
and understands… his body, his thinking, his fitness, only he can decide on all
those things. Selectors can't decide that. I feel that Dhoni understood this
and took the right decision at the right time."
Dhoni remains the skipper of both limited overs formats for India, Patil has been replaced in his role by former Test wicketkeeper MSK Prasad.