It might not be chalk and cheese,but there are subtle differences in the manner in which Virender Sehwag and Mahendra Singh Dhoni speak their mind at media briefings. Sehwag is as candid with his views as he is with his bat and seems to be in a perennial hurry. The Indian skipper,on the other hand,often takes time to adjust the microphones placed in front of him and comes up with meticulously constructed replies. It all started exactly a week ago when stand-in skipper Sehwag irked the hosts by referring to the Bangladesh Test team as ordinary and giving their bowlers absolutely no chance of taking 20 Indian wickets before the first Test in Chittagong. Sachin Tendulkar then refused to comment about the issue after India was bowled out for 243 but wasnt overly complimentary to the Bangladesh bowling either. On Saturday,a day before the second Test begins at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur,Dhoni expressed his lucid opinion on what Bangladesh had to do in order to succeed against the No.1 Test team in the world. The Indian captain,who went through all his routines during training and is almost certain to play on Sunday,also ended up being philosophical about Bangladeshs chances. You should not take any side lightly. Its a Test match and they are obviously playing to win and thats why there are here. If there is no hope then there is no point in playing, he said. Dhoni also added that the home teams performances would definitely improve with more exposure to Test cricket. Meanwhile,all set to captain the newly ranked No. 1 Test team for the first time,Dhoni insisted it was only the eventual result that really mattered. Obviously there are expectations that as the No. 1 team we will win in this way and that way. But I do not believe in making too many statements and instead like to make statements on the field. I am a practical guy. We did start badly in the last game but Im happy with the way we came back. Were definitely looking for a better performance here, he said. Then came the rhetoric. Can Bangladesh take 20 Indian wickets? The local media waited. To their relief and obvious satisfaction though,Dhoni didnt flinch at all before saying: Well thats why they are playing Test matches. They are expected to take 20 wickets and you should not take any side lightly because its about 10 balls that you have to bowl in the right area. It doesnt matter who the bowler is. Hosts moments Despite the 113-run loss,Bangladesh did enjoy good moments in Chittagong and Dhoni agreed that they did reasonably well in the first Test. Frankly speaking,there was only one result that was possible after the fourth day. Anyone who follows cricket will know what result was possible. But Bangladesh have done well, he said,adding that VVS Laxman and Sreesanth who flew back to India on Saturday were ruled out of the second Test. The toss-up now will be between the Tamil Nadu duo of Dinesh Karthik and opener Murali Vijay for the middle-order slot while,with Harbhajan Singh ruled fit for the contest,the visitors are most likely to go in with two spinners. Tamim Iqbal,meanwhile,displayed the refreshingly positive attitude that has become evident in the present generation of Bangladesh cricketers,insisting that they were no longer in awe of the superstars in the opposition. Earlier we used to see and admire guys like Tendulkar and Sehwag even on the field. Though we still respect them a lot,we just treat them as normal opposition and want to show them what we are capable of, said the young opener. Meanwhile,all-rounder Naeem Islam has been added to the Bangladesh squad for the Test. He played in all of Bangladeshs four games in the tri-series. The next five days simply present them with another opportunity to prove themselves worthy of their Test status. Live on Neo Cricket 9am
