Jason Gillespie: M. S. Dhoni knows how to play according to situation

M. S. Dhoni is an asset to the Indian team for his ability to pace his innings according to varied match situations, says the former Australia fast bowler.

Published : Jan 16, 2019 17:44 IST , Adelaide

M. S. Dhoni scored an unbeaten 55 to take India past the finishing line in Adelaide.
M. S. Dhoni scored an unbeaten 55 to take India past the finishing line in Adelaide.
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M. S. Dhoni scored an unbeaten 55 to take India past the finishing line in Adelaide.

M. S. Dhoni knows how to pace his innings according to varied match situations which makes him an asset for India, according to former Australia fast bowler Jason Gillespie.

Dhoni has started the year in style, scoring two half-centuries in successive One-Day Internationals. On Tuesday, he rolled back time to see India through to a victory in the Adelaide ODI to level the three-match series 1-1 . “India have benefitted from Dhoni’s finishing ability for more than a decade. They are still benefitting from it. They benefitted from his experience when they were down at 4-3 in Sydney as well. He was a bit slow in Sydney but you have to understand why. He played the situation,” Gillespie told PTI .

“And it is tough to keep coming down the order and playing as per different situations. In Adelaide, he had a completely different situation, so he played differently. He has played over 300 ODIs so he knows how to play these different situations,” he added.

‘Masterclass’ from Kohli

India chased down 299 riding on skipper Virat Kohli’s 39th ODI hundred. Gillespie termed Kohli’s hundred as an “absolute masterclass” and rated him a notch above his peers.

“It was an absolute masterclass from Kohli. He is a class player and a different batsman to everyone else. Numbers speak for themselves and you genuinely don’t need to add anything to it. Thirty nine hundreds and 10,000 plus runs in ODI cricket in 50 fewer innings than Tendulkar. And we all knew how good a player Tendulkar was. It is simply incredible what Kohli is doing. He is the best in world cricket at the moment, simple,” Gillespie said.

Read | India one of the favourites for the World Cup, says Jason Gillespie

But Gillespie, the Sussex and Adelaide Strikers’ coach, said India was too dependent on Kohli, althoug he refused to label the middle order “shaky.”

‘Well-balanced side’

The likes of Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu last played cricket in November, as also did opener Shikhar Dhawan, and their rustiness has shown in the first two ODIs of the year. Gillespie said that it helps to play as much cricket as possible, but players today do need to find a play-rest balance. “I wouldn’t say that the Indian middle-order is looking shaky. They have a lot of good batting talent, and a couple of them were coming from rest or injury. They have a well-balanced side and enough batting firepower, even if they do rely on Kohli a lot,” Gillespie observed.

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The century by Virat Kohli in Adelaide was termed a "masterclass" by Jason Gillespie. Photo: Getty Images
 

“Ideally, [players] would be like to play more, no doubt. But you have to find that balance between rest and playing constantly, so they can recover physically as well as mentally. You have to balance it so they get enough batting preparation and that only happens when you are playing games as opposed to batting in the nets,” Gillespie replied with regards to Rayudu’s rustiness.

“These batsmen would have done plenty of net training but spending time in the middle is vital. Judging how to play an innings in different conditions are things you can only learn in the middle. It is best to get as much batting practice as you can,” he said.

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