RP Singh clears air around MS Dhoni: The former India pacer quashed claims regarding the former captain going all out in his support.
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Former India pacer Rudra Partap Singh has opened up on a 12-year old controversy around the then India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni offering to step down from captaincy during England’s tour of India in 2008.
It was rumoured back in the day that Dhoni had gone all out to make sure that the selectors don’t replace Singh with another left-arm seamer in Irfan Pathan. While Singh was replaced by Ishant Sharma in the third third ODI in Kanpur, Pathan was given an opportunity in the fifth ODI in Cuttack.
Singh, who picked a lone wicket at an average of 74 in the nine overs that he bowled in two ODIs, quashed all such reports of Dhoni offering to resign from captaincy.
“I don’t think I was affected by the leak. The England series we are talking about, I didn’t get a wicket in Indore. Obviously people think they will get two or three more chances. But it was not meant to be. Some get five chances, some get 10 chances, the lucky ones,” Singh was quoted as saying by Sports Tak.
In the seven ODIs which Singh had played that year before the England series, he had picked 11 wickets at an average of 30.81, an economy rate of 5.55 and a strike rate of 33.2.
RP Singh clears air around MS Dhoni
Singh then made a comeback into the ODI team during the tour of West Indies next year. Further speaking about getting dropped after the England series, Singh revealed having a discussion with Dhoni and praised the legendary captain for remaining unbiased when it came to selection issues.
Thanks @vikrantgupta73 for this invitation. Be ready for some bouncers and reverse swing from my side! https://t.co/PVwDU5J5O6
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) May 10, 2020
“We [MS Dhoni and I] had a discussion about where I could improve, what I can do to get better. I know MS Dhoni. Friendship is a different thing, but leading the country is different altogether. At that moment, I think he pushed the ones who he thought were better. I think he pushed people whom he thought would follow the plans better,” added Singh.
“This is why MS Dhoni is MS Dhoni today. His unbiased opinions on cricket and decision making. I didn’t play as much as I should have because maybe my speed dipped and my swing dipped. Everything else is secondary. If I had improved then, I would have played more. But I am happy with whatever I achieved,” Singh said.
Singh, who last played for India during the tour of England in 2011, retired from international cricket in 2018 and was seen playing for Pakhtoons in the Abu Dhabi T10 League post retirement. Singh, 34, is currently a member of the BCCI-appointed CAC (Cricket Advisory Committee) alongside former cricketers in Madan Lal and Sulkashana Naik.
