IPL 2020 | Krishnamachari Srikkanth rips Dhoni to shreds for ‘ridiculous’ comment about youngsters

That CSK slumped to an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Rajasthan Royals was a punch in the gut to the club’s fanbase, but what added insult to injury was MS Dhoni’s comments in the aftermath of the loss. When questioned about the absence of young Indian cricketers in the CSK side, Dhoni claimed that those given a chance did not show ‘enough spark’ to push the seniors out of the side, but revealed that they might get a run in the team in the upcoming games due to CSK being all but out of contention. 

The CSK skipper, in his comments, was referring to Ruturaj Gaikwad and Narayan Jagadeesan, both of whom combinedly got three chances and were batted out of position, and the comments have not gone done well with fans, who have been left infuriated by the skipper’s statement.

Echoing the sentiments of all CSK fans, former Indian batsman Krishnamachari Srikkanth launched a verbal attack on Dhoni and termed the CSK skipper's comments ‘ridiculous’. Srikkanth expressed his bafflement over how Dhoni could see more ‘spark’ in Kedar Jadhav than young Narayan Jagadeesan, who struck a fine 33 in the only opportunity he got. 

“I won’t agree with what MS Dhoni is saying. He’s rambling about ‘process’ but I will not agree with his words. You talk about process but your process of selection itself is wrong. You say youngsters (like Jagadeesan) don’t have spark, so then are you saying that players like Kedar Jadhav have spark? Come on, this is ridiculous,” Srikkanth said in Star Sports Tamil’s post-match show.

“I will not accept his answers today. You talk about process but the tournament is almost going to come to an end - what’s the purpose of giving youngsters a chance after the competition is done? Jagadeesan showed some spark.”

Another former Indian opener, Sadagoppan Ramesh, agreed with Srikkanth and claimed that Jagadeesan’s intent and approach was ‘100 times better than Jadhav’.

“100%. In the only chance Jagadeesan got, his intent and approach was 100 times better than Jadhav. CSK should definitely have given more chances to Jagadeesan,” said Sadagoppan Ramesh.

A major talking point from Monday’s game was Dhoni’s usage of spinners, with the CSK skipper giving just 4.3 overs to the slower bowlers, despite the RR spinners registering figures of 2/32 in the 8 overs they bowled. Dhoni cited lack of turn as the reason behind the move, but Srikkanth was having none of the justification. The former Indian selector stated that he does not agree with Dhoni’s reasoning post match and claimed that there was plenty of turn to exploit.

“I will not agree with his words about the spinners today as well. Karn Sharma, although he conceded runs, took wickets. But Chawla? Dhoni might be on a higher level than me, but I will not agree with his statements today. The ball did turn; the ball did grip. I will not accept that fact.”