Chennai: Former opener Sunil Gavaskar Tuesday said India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has become more assertive of late, adding that the faith shown in him by the board and the selectors will encourage him to do better.
“If the captain has the confidence of the board and the selectors, it gives him confidence to employ tactics on the field. It’s a huge plus. Now that he is doing so well, it will give him even more confidence,” Gavaskar said.
Dhoni stroked a maiden counter-attacking double hundred to lead India to a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Australia in the first cricket Test.
“He has changed a bit from the England series. He is more assertive. Towards the end of England series in Nagpur, he was trying to be more assertive, showing displeasure at the lack of efforts by the players and we have seen that in Chennai as well,” Gavaskar told a news channel.
The legendary opener also tried to understand what Dhoni must have meant when he said that he never dreamt about representing India. “He [Dhoni] came from a place where cricket was not the number one sport. That might have given him a thought that he would not play for India,” Gavaskar said.
Gavaskar felt that being a bit detached from the game has also helped him remain a “secure person”. “He is a very secure person within himself. He is a very confident man. If tomorrow, he wasn’t playing cricket, I don’t think he would be regretting anything. He would say I had my time and I enjoyed it. If you have such kind of an attitude, there is less pressure on you,” he said.
Gavaskar feels that the Australians have the potential to stage a comeback after their loss in the opening Test just like the English team did in the Test series played two months back. “They [Australians] can make a comeback. Just like England skipper Alastair Cook batted so well in the first Test in Ahmedabad, similarly Michael Clarke has scored well in both the innings here. Moises Henriques has also played very well. They have got two players who have scored runs. Others are also good.”
Gavaskar is of the opinion that Hyderabad track won’t be a rank-turner like the one in Chennai. “I don’t think Hyderabad wicket will take as much turn as it did in Chennai. There will be some turn but not the amount of it along with the bounce that we saw in Chennai,” he said.
Gavaskar heaped praises on Henriques for his back-to-back fifties knocks on debut. “The way Moises Henriques batted, there in lies the clue for the Australian batsmen. He played the ball very late and used soft hands. He stretched right forward to defend the ball. There was a method in the way he batted,” he said.
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