Vijay Hazare Trophy: Here's why MS Dhoni denied playing for Jharkhand

Dhoni, who has been horribly out of touch as a batsman during the past two years, was expected to be a part of Jharkhand's quarter-final against Maharashtra.

Former Indian skipper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s decision of not playing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarter-finals for Jharkhand has left the national selection committee deeply embarrassed. A couple of days back, chief selector MSK Prasad made a public announcement confirming Dhoni’s participation but the current incident clearly depicts that there is no communication between the selectors and senior players.

On Saturday, Jharkhand chief coach Rajiv Kumar spoke to media in Bengaluru and revealed the reason cited by Dhoni. He said, “Dhoni feels that it would not be fair for him to join us at this stage, given that the team has done so well and reached the quarter-final stage in his absence. He does not want to upset the team balance,” Jharkhand coach Kumar said.

Jharkhand topped the group league stage with 32 points and Shahbaz Nadeem's was their notable performer with a List A world record haul of 8 for 10.

On the other hand, there are now questions being raised whether Prasad had even consulted Dhoni in the first place before making a public announcement.

“I would love to know how MSK Prasad gets in touch with Dhoni," a senior BCCI official told PTI on Saturday.

“Last heard, even VVS Laxman didn't get a chance to speak to Dhoni before announcing his retirement. Hope he is telling the truth,” he laughed off.

Prasad had earlier been quick to retort about the alleged lack of communication cited by senior opener Murali Vijay and junior middle-order batsman Karun Nair. Till date, his colleague Devang Gandhi has not confirmed whether he actually carried Prasad's messages to Karun and Vijay