Dhoni Challenges Seniors -article!

March 20: Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni, for the first time lashed out at critics and justified the team selection of keeping the seniors away from the bygone victorious Commonwealth Bank Series. Dhoni's latest comments has reignited the senior versus junior's debate. Though the veteran Indian cricketers slammed the One-day captain and said that this debate is absolutely unnecessary, the BCCI have backed Dhoni.

Watch: BCCI backs Dhoni
Watch: Dhoni slammed by cricketing greats

The BCCI is reportedly backing their successful skipper MS Dhoni on the controversy of Seniors vs Juniors raked up by the captain himself. Speaking to Times Now , BCCI vice president Rajiv Shukla backed Dhoni and said that as captain he can speak on any issue. He also added that the selection of team is ultimately in the hands of the selectors and the captain has no say in the same. The BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah also tried to evade the issue saying he will check whether Dhoni has been misquoted.

Times Now cricket expert, Boria Majumder said that the board has done a right thing by backing their successful captain. It is good to see the board back Dhoni, but the question remains that if Dhoni's performance goes through a rough patch, will the Board back him then as well. As far as the seniors inclusion in the team is concerned, Boria said that this responsibility is in the hands of the selectors. He said, "After the win in CB series, Dilip Vengsarkar said that the doors have not been closed for the seniors as yet. Rajv Shukla and Niranjan Shah are not selectors and the selections of players will be based on their performances. The seniors very well know that if they perform well in the upcoming home series against South Africa, they can very well make the cut into the ODI side."

Dhoni reignites the Seniors vs Juniors debate

A triumphant Mahendra Singh Dhoni and a young Team India, lead a nation of billion in rejoice in a historical win in the CB Series down under. The Men in Blue turned the tide, after it was labelled as a bunch of sitting ducks for the mighty Aussies, in the absence of stalwarts like Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. It was on Dhoni's insistence that the seniors were ignored. Riding high on the tri-series win, skipper Dhoni took a dig at his critics who questioned his capability of a young and inexperienced team.

Dhoni said, "I was pretty clear about the players I wanted in the side. That's what I said to the selectors as well. You can see the kind of team I got. It's very important to send the message across because the process and the timing were criticised a lot."

The exclusion of Dravid and Ganguly from India's ODI squad, a day after the test team's conquest in Perth, created a controversy. Captain Dhoni's latest comments has once again brought to the fore the seniors versus juniors debate. At the start of the Australian tour, when a packed young team failed miserably in the Twenty20 match, questions were raised against Dhoni's decision of playing a young team. However, he is happy skipper that his side overcame all those odds.

Defending his stands to opt for a young team Dhoni said that he had employed aggressive tactics against the Aussies. He opted for players whom he believed would perform for him when it was required the most. He said its all about identifying those key players who would perform when the team needs his services the most. Dhoni felt that he is fortunate to have players in his side, who can be pepped up and do well while they are still speaking.

However, Dhoni would do well to recall that it was none other than Sachin Tendulkar who took the first opportunity, after the series triumph, to remind one of the invaluable contribution of the seniors in the first leg of the tour. Cricket fans across the country would be hoping that the Masters words repeatedly fall on Dhoni's ears. For after all, the timing of the latest comments, that comes days before the seniors return to action for the South Africa test series, has sparked off a whole new controversy.

Reactions from experts

Cricket experts believe that Dhoni has missed out on Sachin Tendulkar's crucial innings in the finals of the CB series. Reacting to these recent remarks by Dhoni, they said that he is likely to get away with these comments because india does not feature is any major One-day series in the near future. They believe that this argument is baseless and it may just backfire at him, if things within the team go wrong. Dhoni's victory allowed him to make such comments on his team's performance, but if India would have failed down under it could have been a tough time for him, a fact that Dhoni himself admits.

The experts added that Sachin Tendulkar's performance and the bowling was the huge contributing factor towards India's historic win down under. This should not be forgotten by Dhoni. According to experts, barring for Gautam Gambhir, the other young batsmen failed to be consistent in the ODI series, which higlights a major flaw in Dhoni's comments.

Dhoni slammed by cricketing greats

Former Indian captain Ajit Wadekar commented on this debate and said that there are chances that Dhoni has been misquoted in this case, because no captain would make such comments especially against players whom he has seen as a budding cricketer. He said, "It Dhoni's comments are true then there is not necessary to show disrespect towards seniors. I don't think the seniors will be affected by these comments and I believe the dressing room atmosphere will not be hampered. However, the present generation should respect the seniors, who have contributed towards the game of cricket."

Reacting to the on-going debate between the juniors and seniors, spurred recently by Indian ODI skipper MS Dhoni, Former Indian cricketer - Bishen Singh Bedi said, "I won't say anything to Dhoni's comments, I would wait and watch what if he meant what he said. I think in the fairness of the game, Dhoni should be given sometime. There is a possibility that this controversy may affect the dressing room but I hope that does not happen. Dhoni has displayed immaturity and he needs to curb his outburst. There is no harm in keeping quiet."

Former Indian skipper Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi also reacted to this comment from Dhoni and said that he is immature as yet and he will mature with time.

Is Dhoni justified in trashing senior cricketers?