‘JSCA chief had no role in Dhoni’s captaincy decision’

Ranchi: The Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) on Monday claimed that its president Amitabh Choudhary, who is also the outgoing BCCI joint secretary, did not pressurize Mahendra Singh Dhoni to give his future cricketing plans to the board.
JSCA members came out against Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) secretary Aditya Verma and attacked him for his Sunday statement that Dhoni quit as India's ODI and T20 captain after chief selector MSK Prasad asked him about his future plans on Choudhary's direction.
JSCA members Ajay Nath Shahdeo, Narul Hooda and others questioned Verma's claims and accused him of using Dhoni's resignation to gain the limelight. "Verma wanted the limelight and he tried to achieve it by tarnishing JSCA's image," Shahdeo claimed. The members questioned the authenticity of Verma's statement, saying "only Dhoni, Choudhary and Prasad were aware of the cricketer's resignation".
This came after Verma on Sunday said Choudhary, unhappy with Jharkhand's defeat to Gujarat in the semifinal match of Ranji trophy under Dhoni's mentorship, had instructed Prasad to call the cricketer and ask him of his future cricketing plans. Dhoni had denounced captaincy hours later, Verma claimed.
PN Singh, manager of Jharkhand's Ranji squad, also defended JSCA members and claimed Dhoni offered tips to cricketers before the match and analysed the team's mistakes after the defeat. Jharkhand had made it to the semifinal of Ranji Trophy for the first time.
Verma had criticized Choudhary and other JSCA office bearers to cling on despite the recommendations made by the Justice Lodha committee. The CAB secretary appealed to former Ranchi cricketers and ousted JSCA members to step up and stake claim for running the JSCA.
JSCA members on Monday said that the formation of a new committee will be from among JSCA's existing members. The outgoing committee will require to vacate their office by January 19 under the Supreme Court directives of January 2.