Former India player Ajay Jadeja has questioned BCCI’s move of appointing a mentor for the Indian team in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2021 to be played in the UAE and Oman from October 17 onwards.

The Indian cricket board (BCCI) on Thursday announced a 15-member squad for the ICC event which will be captained by Virat Kohli and during the announcement, BCCI secretary Jay Shah also revealed that MS Dhoni, former India captain, will be mentoring the Indian team in the tournament is a one-off appointment.

While the legion of MS Dhoni fans and other experts are excited to see Dhoni helping out the Men in Blue from the dressing room, Ajay Jadeja said that he was still wondering why BCCI needed to appoint a mentor for the Indian team.

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He said: "It is impossible for me to understand. I am thinking for two days about what could be the thinking. I am not talking of MS Dhoni, the understanding he has or how useful he can be, I am not going towards that. It was like you sent Ravindra ahead of Ajinkya, the person thinks why it has been done.”

"I am surprised. There is no fan bigger than me of MS Dhoni. I believe MS Dhoni was the first captain who made the next captain before leaving or they used to always keep changing whenever they wanted," he added.

Jadeja, who played for India from 1992-2000, stressed that a mentor was not needed given that Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri had done such an amazing job till now.

"There is a coach who has taken the team to world No.1, what happened overnight that a mentor was required? That thinking is surprising me a little," Jadeja said.

(IANS inputs)