In this Saturday, March, 30, 2013 photo, Indian cricket player Mahendra Singh Dhoni, center, runs after a ball during a charity soccer match played between Indian cricket players and Bollywood actors in New Delhi, India.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he used to have on-field discussion with Sachin Tendulkar on team strategy and would not mind disagreeing with his senior colleague even before he was made captain.
Tendulkar is my sporting hero and because of the aura he carries, I still have difficulties speaking up to him outside a cricket field. But on field, I always give my honest inputs about team strategy, Dhoni said.
Tendulkar and I used to discuss team strategy on the field. If I am convinced I would even disagree with him and it happened quiet often. I think my honesty has paid dividends when he recommended me for captaincy. He might be thinking that I have learnt in quick time on different aspects of the game and team strategy, he said.
India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni played a match-winning 224 in the Chennai Test. He hit the three winning fours at Mohali too. In between, he has also managed to inflict the first 3-0 defeat the Australian Test team in a long time.
So it's hard not to give him credit where it's due. But then again, it's hard to not notice his baffling tactics are skipper.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni today showednerves of steel while guiding India to a nail-bitingsix-wicket win over Australia in the third Test, but the Indiaskipper said his team was under a bit of pressure despitechasing a small total for a series clinching victory.
With one batsman less and with our lower order notscoring enough runs, yes we were under a bit of pressure,Dhoni said at the post-match press conference.
After bowling out Australia for 223 in their secondinnings, India chased down the target of 133 with 15 ballsremaining before close of play in a match.
In this Sunday, March 10, 2013 photo, budding Indian players practice at a soccer coaching camp in Kolkata, India. When sports lovers in India talk about a Premier League igniting their passion, they re usually not referring to the English football competition. For now, football players in India are considered the poor cousins of glamorous cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli, who have the marketability to sell anything from real estate projects to motor bikes or cola.
Sourav Ganguly Tuesday lauded Mahendra Singh Dhoni for becoming the most successful Indian Test captain, surpassing his record, and hoped that the Jharkhand wicketkeeper-batsman would be able to carry his showing in the coming foreign engagements.
Dhoni's record is praiseworthy. Twenty-two Test wins is not a small achievement. And the success against Australia has come against the backdrop of the not-so-good times he went through in the last two years, said Ganguly.
However, he linked the stints of former captains as also that of Dhoni to a relay race where each skipper carried the baton forward.
