I could have used 1.4x. However, that would have been a tight close up. I was aiming for selective depth of field. I could have use a shallow aperture like f4 or f2.8. However, that would have been too shallow. The reason for central placement was that the blue out of focus trees were on both sides of the dhole and to me it felt better along with the out of focus areas infront as well. However, I was aware that not everyone will agree for a central composition.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi