07 August,2014 08:36 AM IST | | Debasish Datta
India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni comes out in support of all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja again, says he will back his players whenever he feels they are innocent
India skipper MS Dhoni
Manchester: The moment judicial commissioner Gordon Lewis ruled that neither James Anderson nor Ravindra Jadeja would be punished in the 'pushgate' affair on August 1, the British media went to town about how Indian skipper MS Dhoni, who had defended Jadeja wholeheartedly, was the biggest loser in the entire episode.
India skipper MS Dhoni
But, Dhoni has stuck to his ground and maintains that what happened at Trent Bridge was absolutely unacceptable, despite the International Cricket Council rejecting the Indian Board's request that ICC appeal Lewis' verdict.
"I did something that was right and I stand for what's right and what's wrong," said Dhoni ahead of the fourth Test that starts at Old Trafford today.
"If something wrong is happening, I will go against it irrespective of who is doing it. If one of my players gets fined and if he's within the boundary lines, I will definitely go and defend him. But if he crosses that line, I won't come and he will go alone and face the consequences."
Asked whether the ICC verdict also meant that his own integrity had been questioned, Dhoni said: "It was physical contact that we reported about. We never said anything about sledging. Quite a few harsh words were spoken but we didn't report that.
Ravindra Jadeja juggles around with a football in Manchester yesterday. Pic/Getty Images
"What is more important is that we brought forward something that we thought was unacceptable. What happens beyond that, it is not in my jurisdiction to punish or award penalties. We thought this incident was bad for the game so we brought it forward. It's up to the ICC and others to see what needs to be done," he added.
'Time to move ahead'
Elaborating on the verdict, Dhoni observed: "In our society we have something called evidence and something called lack of evidence. So the verdict is mostly on those lines and it is time for us to move ahead."
"What is however very interesting is that Jadeja was fined and as I said (previously) there's not even one percent mistake committed from his side. So it is good for us that allegations against him were dropped based on the evidence available.
"However it is really interesting what David Boon saw/found out on the basis of which he fined 50 percent of Jadeja's match fees."
