Amitabh Choudhary quashes rumours says didn’t pressurise Dhoni to quit captaincy

Former Indian skipper MS Dhoni stepped down from captaincy ahead of the England series while his fans were shocked and the pundits of the game termed it a perfectly timed decision there are conspiracy theories doing rounds as well. It was reported that the selectors were building pressure on Dhoni since September to quit as they wanted to hand over the responsibility to Virat Kohli.

Another such theory is that Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) president and BCCI joint secretary Amitabh Choudhary was given the role to convey it to the incumbent skipper that the board was looking forwards to elevating Kohli as skipper across formats. But today Choudhary said that nothing of that sort had happened and the rumours are baseless.

The Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) has been a whistleblower of sorts in Indian cricket having filed the petition in the Supreme Court against the BCCI that has seen the Lodha Committee almost take charge of the administration and the downfall of the top brass of the board. It was the CAB secretary Aditya Verma who first came out with a statement that the BCCI had asked Dhoni to quit as limited-overs skipper.

JSCA members Ajay Nath Shahdeo, Narul Hooda termed it a publicity stunt from the CAB secretary. “Verma wanted the limelight and he tried to achieve it by tarnishing JSCA’s image,” Shahdeo was quoted by TOI. The members questioned the authenticity of Verma’s statement, saying “only Dhoni, Choudhary and Prasad were aware of the cricketer’s resignation”.

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Dhoni had travelled with the Jharkhand Ranji Trophy team right through the season as a Mentor to ensure they had a senior guiding them. The team put up an inspired performance and reached the semi-final of the tournament for the very first time. Team manager PN Singh also echoed with JSCA members and said the former skipper analysed their game and gave precious advice to the players.