As Mahendra Singh Dhoni returns to lead the Indian team in the ODIs against Bangladesh, there would be obvious comparisons of the leadership styles of Virat Kohli, who is now the Test team’s captain, and his. But Dhoni said ‘every individual is different’ and he would stick to his strategies in the limited-overs format. On the eve of first of the three-ODI series against Bangladesh, Dhoni also talked about team’s future, spin twins of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja and Bangladesh as an opponent.
On whether his approach has changed
No, it will be quite the same because what’s important is for the team to win. And we will have to see what kind of roles and responsibilities suit the individuals playing in the XI, and accordingly, we will decide. Being adaptive and constantly looking to improve is something that’s important at the international level.
The regime is still the same. As I said it’s the demand of the game. It’s not about me but as to what the team demands from me.
On India’s future
If you look at the top four or five batsmen, it seems that if they are fit and are in decently good form, they are the ones who may go into the next World Cup or the Champions Trophy. But maybe, we need to improve the bottom three, maybe after the first four. No. 5, 6 & 7 and particularly 7 because they are very crucial. The reason being the No 7 batsman for you, 90% of the time, has to bowl you 10 overs.
Jadeja has done a decent job. last one-and-a-half years, I don’t think our bottom order has got a lot of opportunity to bat, especially in the subcontinent.
On Kohli’s captaincy in Tests
We will stick to the ODIs. I know it’s a very good question but lets stick to the ODIs. Every individual is different. In the same way when it comes to captaincy we try to keep it simple. At the same time individuals need to be different.
On Ravichandran Ashwin
He (Ashwin) has shown improvement. That’s something very important, especially for a Test cricketer because you play under different circumstances. You play in the sub-continent and then you play outside. You try to do things in a different way but what’s important is for the individual to keep on learning in every game. It pushes you to learn something and new and I felt that this is something he has done very well.
On Ravindra Jadeja
He did a decent job in the IPl. I felt even the World Cup, he did a good job for us. Definitely, if you come after an injury, especially if it’s a shoulder injury, you tend to think a bit about it if it’s your bowling arm. I feel he has got more and more confidence about that, getting out of injury and we have seen a lot of improvement.
On rivalry between India and B’desh
It has been nice, it has been subtle. It has been very professional in the sense both the teams playing at their best wanting to win for their country. But we have not had any incident on the field which I feel is very important as far as sports is concerned. It has been good, it’s moving in the right direction.
On World Cup qf controversy
Which controversyIJ Which game are you are talking aboutIJ That’s like 4-5 months back. Anything about last couple of days I remember. let’s not get into Bangladesh, it’s a... it was a game of cricket.
On Bangladesh beating pakistan 3-0
Frankly it’s very difficult for us to watch any other nation playing because we play throughout the year. Yes, I have said “thank you” to one of the formats but still the amount of cricket that has happened it’s very difficult to follow any other series.
On Bangladesh as an ODI side
They are a very good ODI team. Also if you see they have been playing ODI cricket for a long time. And also with their T20 coming in, it gives the guys more exposure and at the same time it gives them the right kind of calculative power as to when they can take the risk and when it’s important to back off. They have shown improvement when it comes to Test cricket but obviously it’s played over 5 days, couple of innings each so you have to play bit more consistent cricket.