It is reliably gathered that the “leadership issue” was also discussed at the Sunday meeting in Chennai but eventually the selectors agreed that they didn’t have any other option but to retain Dhoni as skipper as Virender Sehwag, his deputy, isn’t scoring runs.

During an overseas tour, the coach and the captain are linked up with the selectors via a teleconference when a team is selected. One of the selectors, Narendra Hirwani, is in Perth and The Indian Express has learnt that the former leg-spinner was consulted by Krishnamachari Srikkanth, the chief national selector. However, the two top men in the Indian team management — Dhoni and Fletcher — didn’t have a say in the meeting, a top Board of Control for Cricket in India official said on Monday.

Indian team media manager G S Walia, currently in Perth, confirmed that “there was no teleconference between the selectors and team management”.

Former chief selector Kiran More said it was surprising that neither Dhoni nor Fletcher was consulted. “During my time, I always used to speak to the captain before a meeting. When the team was playing abroad, we used to call the captain and coach for their inputs and suggestions after making an initial list. The official announcement used to be made only after consulting the team management. This is very unusual,” More said.

Asked about the matter, BCCI president N Srinivasan said he wasn’t present at the meeting. “In any case, we don’t discuss selection matters,” he said.