March 21, 2008	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 12, 1429

MUMBAI, March 20: Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni, for the first time lashed out at critics and justified the team selection of keeping the seniors away from the bygone victorious Commonwealth Bank Series.

Dhoni’s latest comments have once again brought to the fore the seniors versus juniors debate. At the start of the Australian tour, when a packed young team failed miserably in the Twenty20 match, questions were raised against Dhoni’s decision of playing a young team. However, he is happy skipper that his side overcame all those odds.

”I was pretty clear about the players I wanted in the side. That’s what I said to the selectors as well. You can see the kind of team I got. It’s very important to send the message across because the process and the timing were criticised a lot.”

The exclusion of Dravid and Ganguly from India’s ODI squad, a day after the Test team’s conquest in Perth, created a huge controversy at home.

Defending his stands to opt for a young team Dhoni said that he had employed aggressive tactics against the Aussies which paid off.

BCCI vice president Rajiv Shukla on Thursday backed Dhoni and said that as captain he can speak on any issue. He also added that the selection of team is ultimately in the hands of the selectors and the captain has no say in the same.

Dhoni said he had asked his players in Australia to stand up with questions being raised about his team selection.

“What now? Why are people not asking the same questions now? Because if the result was not in our favour, what would have happened?” he said.

“Would the people have been really behind this side or behind individuals?”

Reacting to the on-going debate between the juniors and seniors, former Indian skipper Bishen Singh Bedi said: “Dhoni has displayed immaturity by his comments and he needs to curb his outburst. There is no harm in keeping quiet.” —Agencies