Gavaskar believes Dhoni’s fitness: Former Indian captain was confident of Dhoni making the most of playing in Australia.
Sunil Gavaskar, former India captain and the first batsman to cross 10,000-run mark in Test cricket, has come out in support of former India captain and current wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Gavaskar supporting Dhoni despite him receiving severe criticism after his 51 (96) against Australia at Sydney speaks highly about his confidence in the 37-year old cricketer.
Since the start of 2018, Dhoni has been found wanting of pressing the accelerator with the bat in his hand. Once known for thrashing the opposition bowlers at will, there is no hiding to the fact that Dhoni seems to have lost his mojo. Veteran India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was also vocal about Dhoni finding his form.
Citing Dhoni’s inability to play the big shots alongside the big Australian grounds, Gavaskar was of the opinion that Dhoni’s fitness will come into play in these conditions.
[yuzo_related]
“We may not see the MS Dhoni who hits the big sixes on Indian grounds or English grounds because the Australian grounds are big. But he is so good with his fitness that he will be able to convert the ones into twos and twos into threes on large-sized Australian grounds,” Gavaskar told India Today.
“I believe Dhoni will be able to make the most of these Australian conditions where the pitches flatten out after the new ball,” he added.
India played all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja as a replacement for the suspended Hardik Pandya at Sydney. Gavaskar believed that it was the way to go forward for the visitors for batsmen will find it difficult to hit spinners out of the park on big grounds.
“In Australia, it helps to have a spinner. So, Jadeja may play and it can be useful for the team because he may concede less runs in the middle overs,” he concluded.
