Tags:
Journalism of Courage
In his true nonchalant style, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni today handled the issue of Rahul Dravid’s exit quite deftly.
Isn’t the Indian middle order looking fragile without Dravid, the question was coming all along at the pre-match press conference. “Why do you think that is so? You mean to say the other batsmen we have in the team are not reliable?” Dhoni shot back. “We have a good batting side, we are confident of doing well in the series against Pakistan,” he said.
After the initial counter-attack, Dhoni did open up a little, saying: “You see, talent-wise it is very difficult to find a replacement for players of the class of Dravid, or even Sachin, Sourav and Kumble. But again, it’s an opportunity for youngsters to prove themselves.
An India-Pakistan match is always considered a big one. It is considered the toughest of matches to play, especially if you are new at the international level. It’s a challenge for them, and they need to prove themselves. “I think we need to bowl much better, and we need to work on our running between the wickets,” the stumper admitted.
Despite repeatedly saying that this series is going to be just another cricketing affair, Dhoni did admit that playing Pakistan is “something special”.
The captain sounded confident with the way Virender Sehwag is shaping up in his comeback. “He is batting very well right now. He was quite impressive today at the nets. He has done lots of work on his fitness.” And then came the obvious question: the Shoaib Akhtar factor, but Dhoni chose not to single him out. “They have a good bowling attack. If you compare the two sides you will see they are more or less similar (in strength). The team which exploits the conditions better will win.”
At the end, when asked if Sourav Ganguly has been told by the think-tank to step on the gas more often as far as the strike rate is concerned, Dhoni signed off with a vague “Not till now.”
