Did Dhoni’s backing of Sehwag mean anything?

It was the Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka. Zaheer Khan had been having a tough time but at that point, it seemed like skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was backing his best bowler to the best of his abilities. The question put to Dhoni was simple: Does India really need a Zaheer in the team? His answer was surprising. “It’s easier to go after the bowler. If you look at his performance he should be given equal respect as Sachin Tendulkar gets. He is the Sachin for us when it comes to the bowling department. He has led the attack for the past few years,” Dhoni had then said . Next thing you know. Zaheer Khan is dropped . ‘Respect like Sachin,’ it was all talk after all. The right words. [caption id=“attachment_651770” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag are both out of the Indian team despite Dhoni’s backing. Reuters[/caption] Then, in January 2013, he defended an out-of-form Gautam Gambhir after an ODI against England at Dharamsala. “Yeah, he (Gambhir) has been going through a lean patch but he is an experienced player. I believe he has batted a bit better in the last few games. Unlike some of the earlier matches, he didn’t look tentative and was a lot more decisive about stroke-making,” Dhoni said at the post-match media conference. “I believe he is improving and don’t forget he is an amazing player of spin bowling. Ideally, we want him to bat till the 35th-40th over,” said Dhoni defending the Delhi left-hander . Next thing you know, Gambhir is dropped . Then after the Chennai Test against Australia, he decided to back Virender Sehwag. “I think we just need to give him more time. Well, that’s how he bats. About Viru-paa, I’ve said this plenty of times before, when he scores runs, he looks a fantastic player and when he doesn’t, you can question the shot he played or the way he played.” “He’s someone who’s always played with that sort of flair. At times, we get very critical about him. We all know he is someone who can change the course of the game, he’s an attacking player. So let’s go forward with that kind of an attitude,” Dhoni said after the game . Next thing you know, Sehwag is dropped too . Now, it might be something as simple as the selectors differing with the Indian skipper’s views on the matter. But it does make on wonder: what does Dhoni backing really mean? He just became India’s most successful skipper with 22 Test wins, going past Sourav Ganguly. He has won the ODI World Cup and he has also won the T20 World Cup. He also had the backing of BCCI president N Srinivasan. But do his words have no power over the selection committee? Is it just talk without any meaning or weight? Or is it time for the players to be scared when Dhoni starts backing them in public? Zaheer, Gambhir and Sehwag are all senior cricketers and for them to be dropped, despite the backing of the skipper, means that there is a fair bit of dispute in the selection committee meetings. It also shows that the selectors are, for once, doing their job and looking at the game from the outside. Sandeep Patil and Co have taken some tough decision and truth to be told, they were all decisions that needed to be taken. Their perspective is different from that of the captain and whether that helps Indian cricket is something we will only see in the future. Australia have been led astray at the moment by a selection policy that has gone all wrong. One of the fears that will haunt Indian cricket is whether the selectors might be doing the same thing by not listening to Dhoni.