Image Courtesy: BCCI.tv
Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar has hailed Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s performance as the captain of Team India but refused to draw comparisons with his predecessors.
Dhoni, after registering a crushing win over England in the fourth one-dayer, has surpassed Mohammad Azharuddin’s record of India’s successful ODI captain. The Ranchi-born is now closing on to become first Indian captain to register 100 ODI wins.
The 33-year-old is considered as master tactician in the limited-overs cricket and has led India to historic championship triumphs in the World Cups and Champions Trophy. Gavaskar insisted that Dhoni’s ability to remain composed in crunch situations has made him a consistent performer.
“If you look at stats after 50-100 matches it will give you a fair bit of idea about consistency of a performer,” Gavaskar said. “But what I feel is that is unfair to compare captains of different era.”
“But going by sheer statistical record, Dhoni definitely tops all and no one can deny this fact,” he added. “I feel may be he is much more comfortable in shorter formats. His strength is thinking quickly and 50-over format allows you to do that.”
The batting legend added that Indian team has handled the conditions better in the ODIs, compared to the Tests. He, however, pointed out that the men in blue should also focus on the longest version of the game to improve their performance in the whites.
“They are certainly handling the conditions better in ODIs,” Gavaskar said. “They have won a lot of ODIs out of the country and have consistently performed in overseas conditions.”
“In the three ODIs, India have completely outplayed England,” he pointed out. “India definitely have done a lot better than what England did in the Test series. But I haven’t forgotten the Test series drubbing because for me Test is always number one, it separates men from boys.
