I am aware of how much Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni respect me, affirms MSK Prasad

MSK Prasad, who took over as the Chief Selector of the Indian team in 2016, revealed that Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni respected him despite the contrary reports that suggested that Dhoni and Prasad were not on the same page. 

"During this tenure, I used to take advice from legendary cricketers which helped. My relationship with MSD (MS Dhoni) and (Virat) Kohli are intact. People might write anything but when I speak to them, I know how much they respect me," said MSK Prasad in an interview with the Times of India.

Prasad’s reign as the chief selector was filled with controversies, including the exclusion of Sanju Samson from the initial squad for the upcoming series against West Indies. One of the most controversial decisions that he took while in charge was to drop Ambati Rayudu from the 2019 World Cup squad while including "three-dimensional" Vijay Shankar. 

"Tell me, did we have a problem till the semifinal with No. 4?. We went into the World Cup with Shikhar Dhawan opening and KL Rahul at number four. They did the job until unfortunately Dhawan got injured and that is when we flew in Rishabh Pant. I don’t think we lost because of the No. 4 issue," concluded Prasad.

Further, the chief selector has also made some influential decisions in the past with the inclusion of Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah in the scheme of things in all three-formats. Bumrah’s inclusion in the Indian squad in the Test format has helped India to multiple Test victories across SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia). Prasad’s reign as the selector comes to an end next month, as India play the series against West Indies.