Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Team India Avoid Media After Who-is-Boss Controversy
On the eve of the second ODI in Cardiff, Mahendra Singh Dhoni gave the pre-match press conference a miss. No Team India player was available to the media. Captains usually speak to the Press ahead of an international match.
Hit by controversies right through their troubled England tour, the Indian team management on Tuesday sought to steer clear of the media by not sending any player for the pre-match press conference ahead of the second ODI against the hosts.
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had created a flutter at the first press conference ahead of the series-opener by declaring that coach Duncan Fletcher continued to remain the 'boss' of the team and would do so till the 2015 World Cup.
The BCCI took strong exception to Dhoni's statement, saying that he had "overstepped his brief" and it was "unbecoming of an Indian captain" to make such comments. The BCCI had also decided to take up the matter at its next working committee meeting.
Dhoni, however, chose to skip the press conference on Tuesday while the team management did not depute any player to face the media, a move which could have been taken to avoid any further controversy.
The media has raised questions on who was actually the 'boss' of the Indian team following former cricketer Ravi Shastri's appointment as the director of cricket in the wake of the shambolic performance in the Test series.
BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel had made it clear that the team would now be "Ravi Shastri's baby" and Fletcher will have to report to him. (India vs England ODIs: The Five Key Battles Mahendra Singh Dhoni & Co. Need to Win)
Shastri himself had said in media interviews that Fletcher will have to report to him and he will be the overall incharge of the team.
The Indian team had a strenuous net session where both Fletcher and Shastri were present. But when it was time for the press conference, a message was sent out that no one from the Indian side would address the media.