The Hindu : Sport : I am comfortable at any position: Dhoni

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 31, 2006

Sport

Sport

I am comfortable at any position: Dhoni

Principal Correspondent

— Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

SMOOTH AS ... : S. Sreesanth, Suresh Raina, Robin Uthappa and M.S. Dhoni find Irfan Pathan's new look rather amusing.

Bangalore: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh might be plying different trades in the field of cricket but they do share a rich vein of talent and aggression. Besides their respective roles of wicket-keeper, left-hand batsman and off-spinner, these players also bring in their all-round skill-sets to the team's basket.

And in the road ahead, that will feature World Cup' 2007 in the West Indies as an important signpost, their presence will be an added bonus to Greg Chappell and Rahul Dravid.

Dhoni's belligerent batting, Yuvraj's left-arm spin and Harbhajan's long-handle down the order are all factors that enhance the flexibility within the team.

In the City as part of the on-going fitness camp, they are eager to put their best foot forward, starting with the tri-series in Sri Lanka next month. Dhoni, Yuvraj and Harbhajan spoke to the media, during a whistle-stop tour of a sports apparel manufacturer's retail outlet here late on Saturday night.

Pragmatic approach

Dhoni emphasised on pragmatism while discussing his approach to cricket. "I have completed around 18 months of International cricket and one of the facts is that you cannot be successful in all series. Of course one tends to compare the player with his performance in the previous series and analyse where he went wrong but reality is different, you can call it practical thinking. I can't be expected to score 100, batting at No. 7. My role then would be aimed at getting 30 or 35 runs in 20-odd balls. I don't think anything before a match nor do I set a target because I have no idea where I will be batting. The only thing I am sure about is about wicket-keeping," Dhoni said.

And on his primary job of wicket-keeping, Dhoni expressed satisfaction. "It is a gradual process. For instance in domestic cricket, you hardly get bowlers of the calibre of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. The more you keep to them there is more scope for improvement. That's a real challenge and you keep on improving," Dhoni said.

On his batting and aggression, Dhoni added: "I am comfortable with any position in the batting order and I take batting at different slots as a challenge. At the international level and in one-dayers, where you have little time to adapt, you have to read the situation fast, plan then play accordingly. Aggression is all about staying positive on the field. Of course there are times when it's hard to control, but you have to, because it's cricket and not boxing."

Similar pitches

On the Sri Lankan tour, Dhoni said: "Sri Lanka is playing good cricket and South Africa is a good team. The best part is we are coming back from the West Indies where there were slow tracks and Sri Lanka has similar pitches. The pitches will be double paced. One ball you feel you were away from the stumps and the next delivery gives you a feeling that you were too close to the stumps. It's hard to move like that but few people understand that."

Hopes to fare better

While Dhoni looks ahead, for Yuvraj it is all about forgetting his low returns from the West Indies tour besides helping India break its jinx in Sri Lanka. "I am very disappointed that I did not get many runs in the Test matches (104 runs averaging 17.33) in West Indies. I had a good season but didn't score too many runs in the Tests. That is why I want to concentrate more on Tests and want to utilise the one-dayers to improve my performance in the Tests. Last time when we visited Sri Lanka, we lost the series. This time we don't want to repeat it," Yuvraj said.

Harbhajan meanwhile lauded the preparation for the Sri Lankan tour. "With the kind of team we have now and with the workout we have done, we should be performing well in Sri Lanka and make it tough for the other two teams. I am not fully satisfied with my last season's performance. Though I was rather satisfied with my bowling, wickets were not coming," Harbhajan said besides praising his senior partner Anil Kumble. "We all have to learn from Anil," Harbhajan said.

Meanwhile at the conditioning camp in progress at the National Cricket Academy on Sunday, the players had fitness assessments sessions in the morning and later indulged in some baseball and golf in the afternoon.

On Monday morning, the team will have a session at an undisclosed defence establishment.

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