New Delhi: Australian cricket legend Adam Gilchrist feels India’s limited overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni should be left alone to take a call regarding his future in international cricket as he has “earned” this right. (Adam Gilchrist Rules Himself Out of India Coaching Job)
On the sidelines of an interactive session with school kids in New Delhi on Thursday, Gilchrist, who is now Australia’s Education Ambassador to India, said Dhoni has “earned the right” to take decisions on his own.
“I don’t like the fact that at this stage of a player’s career, journalists or even the public start asking these questions. I don’t see any evidence that he (Dhoni) is not upto the standards. He doesn’t get too many decisions wrong.
There was a time when he felt that it was time for Test cricket when everyone asked ‘why’. Similarly, he would take a call on limited overs cricket too,” said the former wicketkeeper. (Rahul Dravid Approached For Team India Coaching Job)
Speculations are rife that Rahul Dravid might take over the duty of coaching the Indian team. ‘Gilly’ feels that the 43-year-old former India batsman fits the bill perfectly.
“Rahul’s cricketing experience as a batsman or as a mentor or as a cricket mind is on par with anyone else in the world. I watched with interest when he took charge of the U-19 Indian team in the World Cup and achieved considerable success.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it falls on him,” quipped the swashbuckling left-handed batsman, who also ruled out any possibilities of him donning the hat of a coach anytime soon.
“I have no aspirations to become a coach. I coach my son’s U-14 team and that itself is a big challenge,” said the 44-year-old.
Gilchrist feels that in spite of the recent controversies, IPL remains a prize catch in the world of cricket.
“Players have benefitted from the IPL. It’s lucrative financially. From an administrative point of view, it has had its ups and downs. Hopefully, a consistent model can be worked out,” he elaborated.
Gilly was all praise for the West Indies team that won the World Twenty20 in spite of differences over financial issues with the administrators back home.
“It’s not an ideal situation. I don’t think anyone wanted it to be that way — players or administrators. But it seems that the players used it as some sort of a motivating factor. I would suspect that it was not the driving force.
They played good cricket, enjoyed themselves and wanted to win,” he said, adding that the International Cricket Council (ICC) “can” step in to solve the problem.
Another cricketer that received accolades from the former Aussie superstar was Virat Kohli. Asked about India’s ‘dependence’ on the Delhi batsman, Gilchrist said, “It’s a bit of a reverse. He’s been so good that he often doesn’t give others a chance to bat.
“You can’t really question a team or player who is producing phenomenal results. He’s batting the full 20 overs,” said the veteran of 96 Test matches and 286 One-Day Internationals (ODI).
PTI