I vetoed to stop MS Dhoni's axing as Test skipper in 2012, claims N Srinivasan

Courtesy: PTI

New Delhi: TV anchor Rajdeep Sardesai's latest book — Democracy's XI has made a lot of shocking revelations about Indian cricket in the last few weeks.

Now, it has been revealed that former national selector Mohinder Amarnath wanted to drop MS Dhoni as Team India skipper in 2012 following the team's back-to-back Test series losses in England and Australia.

However, then BCCI president N Srinivasan saved the player from the axe. 

The Tamil Nadu administrator has admitted that he did veto the selectors' attempt to remove Dhoni as captain. 

"Yes, it is true that I vetoed the decision to drop Dhoni as captain. How can you drop someone as captain within a year of his lifting the World Cup?" Srinivasan was quoted as saying in Democracy's XI. 

"What you call favouritism I say is my respect for a top-class cricketer’s achievements," Srinivasan added. 

"We appreciated his cricket, he gave us respect in turn, what is wrong with that?" asked Srinivasan.

Dhoni also defended his equation with Srinivasan, claiming that the former board chief was a true supporter of Indian cricket.

"I really don’t care what people say; I found Srinivasan as someone who was always there to help cricketers," Dhoni was also quoted as saying in the book. 

After the spot-fixing scandal broke out in IPL, Dhoni was accused of not revealing the true extent of the involvement of Gurunath Meiyappan, Srinivasan’s son-in-law.

However, Dhoni said: "Let me tell you, it is an absolute lie that I told a probe panel that Meiyappan was only a cricket enthusiast; all I said is he had nothing to do with the team’s on-field cricketing decisions. I can’t even pronounce the word “enthusiast", he said with sarcasm.

The most troubling moment came in 2013-14 with the insinuation that he was involved in 'fixing' IPL matches.