Dhoni’s appointment as mentor not meant to undermine anybody: BCCI

BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal has said that appointing former India captain MS Dhoni as the national team’s mentor was not meant for undermining anybody.

He also said that India will definitely benefit from the presence of the legend in the camp.

“He (Dhoni) has been a great leader. Under his captaincy, India won the inaugural World Twenty20, the 2010 and 2016 Asia Cups, the 2011 World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy. Records are amazing. It is really great to have him as a mentor of the team (for the ICC World Cup).

“He has a good reputation and respect in the team, and also bringing him doesn’t mean to undermine anybody. They have also done a phenomenal job,” Dhumal told India Ahead.

Further asked if Virat Kohli’s decision to step down from T20 Captaincy was of his own or the BCCI forced him, Dhumal said, “The board didn’t ask him to step down. It was absolutely his own decision. Why would we ask him to step down? He was doing a great job.”

Notably, the T20 World Cup event was scheduled to start in 2020 but was forced to be suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Moreover, the showpiece event was earlier scheduled to be hosted in India but now it will take place in UAE and Oman in a total of four venues, Muscat, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah.

Earlier this month, Dhoni’s appointment as Team India’s mentor for the showpiece event was made official by BCCI secretary Jay Shah.

While announcing the India squad, Shah had said that Dhoni was keen on contributing to the senior national team and his appointment as a mentor was only for the upcoming T20 World Cup.

“Mr Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be joining Team India as mentor for the upcoming T20 World Cup. I am glad that MS has accepted BCCI’s offer and he is keen to contribute to the national team once again. MS will work closely with Mr Ravi Shastri as well as other support staff to provide support and direction to Team India,” Shah had said while announcing the India squad to the media in a virtual interaction.

Later, the decision to appoint Dhoni as the team’s mentor during the upcoming T20 World Cup had landed in a controversey as Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) life member Sanjeev Gupta has questioned the move.

Gupta was not convinced about the decision and had written to all the members of the BCCI Apex Council, in the absence of an ethics officer, questioning Dhoni’s appointment.

Gupta had mentioned in his letter that the appointment was a case of conflict of interest as how can a reigning captain of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) could also be the mentor of Team India?

Meanwhile, he had cited example of Rahul Dravid, who had to leave his coaching stint with Rajasthan Royals (RR) to become the director of the National Cricket Academy.

According to Gupta, the decision of the board was a gross violation of the Supreme Court norms.

News Desk

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