Former Indian cricketer Kris Srikkanth slammed ace skipper MS Dhoni's mantra on selection following Chennai Super Kings' seventh defeat in 10 matches in the ongoing IPL and termed the latter's selections throughout the season as "ridiculous" and “rubbish”.
"What is Dhoni's deal? He says N. Jagadeesan doesn't have spark but does 'scooter' (Kedar) Jadhav have that spark? This is ridiculous. I will not accept this answer today. All this talk of process and Chennai's tournament itself is over," Srikkanth told Star Sports Tamil.
"I will never accept what Dhoni is saying about this process," said Srikkanth. "This process he keeps talking about is meaningless. You keep talking about process, process... but the process of selection itself is wrong."
Srikkanth's outburst came after CSK suffered a seven-wicket loss against Rajasthan Royals on Monday evening. After the game, Dhoni told official broadcaster Star Sports that the youngsters in the team had not shown him the kind of "spark" that would have warranted their inclusion in the side.
Jagadeesan's case was singled out as he featured in just one game in the CSK XI against RCB when he scored 33 and was dropped in the next game.
"Dhoni now says that since the pressure is off, he'll give the youngsters a chance. Come on yaar. I don't understand this rubbish about the process at all. What spark didn't he see in Jagadeesan? What spark did he see in Jadhav and Piyush Chawla?
"Karn Sharma at least took wickets. Chawla simply goes through the motions of bowling, coming on when the game is already lost. Dhoni may be a pistha (big shot) and there is no doubt he is great, but I cannot agree with him or accept this," said the former Indian opener.
The three-time champions have six points from 10 games and are currently placed at the bottom of the points table. They next play Mumbai Indians on Friday.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)