Refusing to accept that Team India captain Mahender Singh Dhoni and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh did not turn up intentionally to receive the Padma Shri award in Rashtrapati Bhawan recently, the cricket fraternity in steel city here have expressed whole-hearted support for them.
"Though we are not in touch with Dhoni for a long time due to his engagement including the recent New Zealand tour, we are sure Dhoni will not do such things intentionally," Rajesh Verma "Bobby", secretary of Jharkhand State Cricket Association, said here today.
"How can we blame Dhoni, the most successful captain with a positive frame of mind, without knowing the facts?" Verma
asked.
"Besides, we should also take several aspects including Dhoni's commitments, international engagements as well as travelling into account before raising accusing fingers towards him", he said.
"No one would like to miss a ceremony like prestigious Padma Shri award, but we should know the truth before raising a hue and cry," the JSCA secretary said.
Dhoni and Harbhajan were conspicuous by their absence at the Rashtrapati Bhavan where they were expected to accept the Padma Shri awards from President Pratibha Patil.
Flaying the "casualness" of Dhoni and Harbhajan for skipping the award function, union sports minister MS Gill said on Friday that his ministry would soon issue a circular to ensure that sportspersons treat national awards with utmost
respect.
Echoing a similar view former Bihar Ranji captain and veteran off-spinner KVP Rao suggested "We should not point accusing finger towards anyone whether he is Dhoni or Bhajji, unless we know the truth."
"How can we accuse Dhoni or Bhajji for failing to turn up to receive the award unless we are sure about the facts," Rao said.
"However, if they were sent a comminucation before hand, certainly they are at fault. Since cricketers are well mannered and educated and have a sense of responsibility towards their country, no cricketer will commit such a mistake intentionally", he opined.
Even though reports claimed the duo gave it a miss because of their commercial pre-occupations, Harbhajan cited family commitment as the reason for skipping the event.
The sports minister, however, was not convinced and even though he refused to name the duo, Gill said he would not brook such casualness by anyone.
