Even as Mumbai and UP are tied in a battle for the Ranji trophy, there are worrying reports that Mahendra Singh Dhoni, captain of the Indian cricket team, has stopped responding to the East Zone selections causing much mayhem in the Duleep Trophy.
Dhoni is apparently using the free time as a result of the cancelled tour to Pakistan to holiday in Coorg. But it appears he has connectivity issues, one way or another because neither the East Zone selectors nor the Jharkhand selector Jodh Singh have been able to get him to respond to their repeated calls to report for the selection of the East Zone team for the Duleep Trophy tie against West Zone on 29th of January.
Raja Venkat, the East Zone selection panel chief, told media persons three days ago, I sent him a message on January 7 or 8 informing him about the selection meeting for the Duleep Trophy and asked him to call back to confirm his availability.”
While Raja, like some of the other selectors, wants to keep the doors open should Dhoni respond and join the team, others are of the opinion that there is more than what meets the eye given the BCCI secretary, N. Srinivasan’s response to a news network, when questioned about Dhoni, “’I am not going to answer the question, this is an internal matter of the board and I can’t tell everyone who is brushing his teeth and who is not.” There are also reports that people in places are displaced that Dhoni has not done the right thing when players know they have to turn up for domestic tournament when not tied up with international assignments.