Dhoni refutes Ian view
- We will prove that team can sustain Test No. 1 status, says India captain
Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Ian Chappell
Dhaka: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has hit out at former Australia skipper Ian Chappell for his comments that India do not have champion bowlers to sustain their Test No. 1 status.
Talking after the team lost the tri-series final against Sri Lanka last night, Dhoni defended his bowlers and said Chappell was unnecessarily harsh in his judgement.
“It is not a fair statement. I agree that our bowlers are struggling now. But we have become the Test No. 1 because of the bowlers also and not only due to our batting,” Dhoni said.
He said that just because the bowlers struggled a bit doesn’t mean they have overnight become pedestrian.
“Sometimes batsmen struggle and sometimes bowlers. It is not fair to say that we don’t have good bowlers. We will prove it (that we can sustain Test No. 1 status),” he added.
Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara also sided with Dhoni and said India have top-class bowlers in pacer Zaheer Khan and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.
“Of course, India has top-class bowlers. Zaheer is one of the best fast bowlers in the world and Harbhajan is top-class. Even Sreesanth can bowl reverse swing,” said Sangakkara.
“There are always critics and doubters, but it is your job to prove them wrong,” he added.
Chappell had earlier said that India do not have the bowling strength to stay at the top of the Test rankings on a long-term basis.
“I don’t think great teams are built on opening batting partnerships. But to me, there is a far more important thing, and this is one reason why I don’t rate India as a long-term No.1,” Chappell had told a cricket website.
“I think you have got to have two champion bowlers in your line-up to be a long-term successful cricket team. That is where India is failing at the moment,” he had said.
Chappell said gone to the extent of saying that the Indians do not even have one champion bowler in their line-up.
“When I look at the averages and the strike-rates for India in the last 12 months, I don’t see two champion bowlers. In fact, I am struggling to find one champion bowler in that line-up.”
“They've got some good bowlers. Sure, they have got a very good batting line-up, but the bowling is really not good enough to see them win consistently all around the world,” he said.
“Out of the 20 Tests India have played in the past two years, they have won nine and lost three,” he had concluded. (PTI)
The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Sports | Dhoni refutes Ian view