'Dhoni' drops Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, again!

Clockwise from top left Sourav Ganguly Rahul Dravid VVS Laxman and MS DhoniWith just days to go before MS Dhoni The Untold Story hits the screens the makers have decided to delete the names of three legendary cricketers from a crucial sceneEver since the trailer was launched on August 11 online buzz has been centred around the scene where Sushant Singh Rajput playing MS Dhoni is being lambasted by selectors for ruthlessly asking for the axing of three senior cricketersldquoYeh teenon ko nikaalke rukne wala nahin hai He wonrsquot stop at dropping these three alonerdquo says a selector in the film to which Dhoni responds over a video call ldquoWersquore all servants and wersquore all doing national dutyrdquoThe line that follows in the original version of the film names the three said cricketers who sources told midday are VVS Laxman Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid Now in a lastminute call the filmmakers have selfcensored the line directly referring to the names from the final edit of the biopic the sources addedAlso readDid BCCI charge biopic makers Rs 40 lakh for MS Dhonis footageConfirming the development director Neeraj Pandey told midday ldquoThe sequence from the promo is very much there in the movie All we have done is knock off names of the three cricketers who were mentioned This is as per the original plan discussed with Dhoni a year and half ago where we had decided to shoot the scene with the names yes but take a call on this only in the final editrdquoThe reason behind the decision as Pandey put it is to desist from ldquounnecessarily ruffling feathers when that is not the intention or tone of the movierdquo Asked to name the cricketers who were mentioned in the original version Pandey laughed ldquoAre you seriously asking me that question Obviously I canrsquot That would be highly disrespectful of me to dordquoAlso readGautam Gambhirs subtle dig at MS Dhoni says cricketers dont need biopicsGanguly Dravid and Laxman were dropped from the oneday squad for the 2008 Commonwealth Bank Series down under even as they were set to play the crucial fourth Test of the acrimonious Monkeygate series under Kumblersquos leadershipThe selectors and limited overs captain Dhoni who debuted under Ganguly in ODIs and Dravid in Tests came under criticism for the axing of the three senior players that too before the fourth Test was played While Dravid and Laxman had been out of contention in white ball cricket for some time then Gangulyrsquos exclusion became a hotbutton issue at the time The BCCI had to field the then Secretary Niranjan Shah to justify the decision ldquoThe emphasis was on fielding abilities and the team management wanted a young fielding side for the seriesrdquo Shah had told the pressSushant Singh Rajput in a still from M S Dhoni The Untold StoryThe team management and Dhoni however would have eventually felt vindicated as a sprightly India mdash riding on two Sachin Tendulkar specials mdash won the series to end a 23year ODI series win drought in Australia Dhoni incidentally watched the first cut of his biopic last month What did he think of itldquoWell he just sat in silence for 10 minutes didnrsquot speak a word It was quite an awkward feeling for him watching his own self being played by an actor on the big screenrdquo Pandey said