Dhoni: Jadeja did not retaliate this time

Cricket365
July 16, 2014

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has denied laying charges against England's James Anderson as a tactic to distract the player ahead of the second Test at Lord's, as Alastair Cook has claimed.

Anderson has been charged by the ICC with a level three Code of Conduct break, which could see him banned for four Tests, after India claimed he had shoved and verbally abused Ravi Jadeja on day two of the first Test.

Cook on Wednesday said this was all a tactic by India to get rid of England's best bowler, and that the ECB had laid a counter-claim against Jadeja. Dhoni denied this, and said Jadeja was the injured party.

Dhoni denied: "It's not something that we have done. Let's realise the fact. Like in a press conference you can ask me tough questions. I have the right to answer them or not to answer them, but in no way can I go and touch you. Or you can come and touch me.

"You can put it in whatever way you want to but there are certain things that need to be followed, and it should be followed."

Dhoni went on to insist that Jadeja was not the one in the wrong, and that he had tried to get out of the situation by not retaliating and backing off. He said that being aggressive was one thing, but shoving a player crossed the line.

The skipper continued: "The good thing (for the case) is it is not something that has happened for the first time. It is a constant thing that keeps happening.

"Frankly, usually, we have been on the receiving end a lot of times where somebody starts something and we retaliate and we get fined or different kinds of offences are levelled against us.

"It was good on Jadeja's part to not really do something. It could have gone a bit far, but I felt he addressed this in the most appropriate manner. That's something we will have to learn and move forward.

"Someone has to back off at the right time. At the end of the day we play sport and lot of people look up to us, and there is a lot of responsibility on us.

"We talk a lot about the spirit of cricket and everything, and there are guidelines that need to be followed. There have been a few individuals from our side too in the past that have crossed the line.

"It's a very difficult one. You can be aggressive, you can be vocal, but there are certain guidelines that are laid out, and we should follow that."

Dhoni added that he was not concerned about this getting ugly in the second Test, saying: "I am not worried about that. Definitely I would like to make sure the remainder of the series is played in the right spirit, but at the same time it is not docile.

"We want players to be aggressive, say a few things, but at the same time it is very important to not flow with it and cross the boundaries. I think it is our responsibility to play the game in the right spirit. We will try our best to maintain that."