Mahendra Singh Dhoni said that it is for the selectors to decide whether he should continue to lead India or not, after his team lost the third Test to England yesterday
“As a leader, the challenge has been thrown to me. The easier thing for me now is to say I quit captaincy and be only a part of the side,” Dhoni told the media after England beat India by seven wickets.
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MS Dhoni (left) listens to coach Duncan Fletcher during a training session in Mumbai on November 9. u00a0Pic/Getty Images
“That will be running away from the responsibility, though there is BCCI (Board of Cricket for Control in India) to decide,” he said in response to talk about him giving up the top post.
“For me, the responsibility is to get the team together and be ready for the next match,” he added.
Dhoni said it was a challenge to lead a side when the chips were down. “It is always good to lead a side when the side is performing and you are winning. You do not need a leader then. When the team is not doing well, you need the team to gel together, back the players and try to move in the direct direction.”
“The selectors are here to decide,” was Dhoni’s reply when asked if he was the right man to lead the team.
‘Cannot question Fletcher’
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni refused to blame coach Duncan Fletcher and attributed batting failure for India’s dismal performance in the series.
“You cannot question the coach. We have done well under him. He has excellent technical knowledge but once we cross the rope we are on our own.
“We should not really look into excuses and try not to play the blame game and put it on the coach. Ultimately what matters is how the 11 players perform in the middle.”
Dhoni even went to the extent of saying that the team had done well with Fletcher at the helm.
“We have won quite a few series, the ODI performances have been really good. In between, we have won Test series. Okay, in Australia and England we struggled, but this is a series after that that we have not done well, the last two matches that you see.”
For the record, under Fletcher, India has lost 10 Tests and won just six. When we consider strong opposition, the record becomes 9-1. In ODIs, India have been knocked out of two ODI tournaments this year, they have lost to Bangladesh, and were disappointing in the World Twenty20 tournament too. u00a0
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