We'll prove Ian Chappell wrong: Dhoni

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India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday hit out at former Australia skipper Ian Chappell for his comments that India does not have champion bowlers to sustain their No 1 Test status. More... We'll prove Ian Chappell wrong: Dhoni January 14, 2010 09:39 IST India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday hit out at former Australia skipper Ian Chappell for his comments that India does not have champion bowlers to sustain their No 1 Test status. Dhoni defended his bowlers and said Chappell was unnecessarily harsh in his judgement. "It is not a fair statement. I agree that our bowlers are struggling now. But we have become the Test No 1 not only due to our batting, but because our bowlers also did their jobs well," he said. He said just because the bowlers struggled a bit doesn't mean they have become pedestrian overnight. "Sometimes batsmen struggle and sometimes bowlers. It is not fair to say that we don't have good bowlers. We will prove it (that we can sustain the Test No 1 status)," he added. Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara also sided with Dhoni and said India have top-class bowlers in pacer Zaheer Khan and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. "Of course, India has top-class bowlers. Zaheer is one of the best fast bowlers in the world and Harbhajan is top-class. Even S Sreesanth can bowl the reverse swing," said Sangakkara. "There are always critics and doubters but it is your job to prove them wrong," he added. Chappell had earlier said that he did not rate India a long-term No 1 team because they lacked at least two champion bowlers.

[DomainK]

No one expected us to race past every other team to that no1 position. So how others evaluate us does not make much difference. We will stay at that position for a while.

[champ]

you dont have to always dominate to get to #1 .. even a consistent performance can get you there .. ian thinks only like the former ..

[Bradman99]

Indias bowlers are decent, however it's clear that their main strength is within the batting. I just feel that with all the players that are due to retire soon, India will have to go through a rebuilding phase similar to the one Australia are undergoing now which will halt their #1 ranking. Time will tell though.

[Sachinism]

Well Said Dhoni :two_thumbs_up:

[Malcolm Merlyn]

Indias bowlers are decent' date=' however it's clear that their main strength is within the batting. I just feel that with all the players that are due to retire soon, India will have to go through a rebuilding phase similar to the one Australia are undergoing now which will halt their #1 ranking. Time will tell though.[/quote'] it will be another 2 years i guess.....dravid and GOD will go then......sehwag gambhir dhoni etc have 5 years atleast Laxman another 3-4 years

[PotterManiac]

Test matches can NEVER be won without bowlers! you need to take 20 wickets to win! And India didnt reach the no1 spot because they drew with everyone!

[Sachinism]

Test matches can NEVER be won without bowlers! you need to take 20 wickets to win! And India didnt reach the no1 spot because they drew with everyone!

So what exactly have we been doing in the past 2 years?

[THX_1138]

hear this now: eighteen months hence -

[CSK Fan]

So what exactly have we been doing in the past 2 years?

Cool down. he is on your side

[champ]

good reply back by dhoni .. but i think with these bowlers he is on a losing cause ..

[Sachinism]

Cool down. he is on your side

my bad, didn't read it properly

[zen]

I don't care much about replying to Captain Obvious (IC). Unless one comes across a magic lamp, the bowling is not going to have McGrath and Warne overnight. Ind will have to continue to utilize its bowling resources well, along with proper planing, which includes keeping an eye on bowlers form and playing those who are in good form over persisting with those who are struggling The batting will have to score quickly to give enough time for our bowlers to take 20 wkts. The manner in which some of these batsmen are scoring puts the age old saying that 'its bowlers who win games' in to debate How Ind does well in the long run depends up what kind of players our domestic cricket throws up. It's is the strength of our domestic structure and its capability to produce HQ players that's going to decide how Ind is going to do in the future Becoming a super team like the good old WI and the recent dominating Australian side is not an overnight thing. First step for India was to reach that number #1 ranking (which it achieved). Next step is to see that we stay there for longer periods. Final step is to become a super team It's a step by step process. What's important for India is to see that it keeps improving and going in the right direction. Which is something what the fans want It's easy to criticize, what's difficult is to appreciate and show a way forward. It easy to say Ind doesn't have a champion bowler, what's difficult is to show the way to get one. It's not like Ind is not playing a champion fast bowler despite having one and IC's criticism is going to make Ind play one .... And it's not like if WI and Aus did it with brand name champion bowlers that Ind has to do that too. It has to work on its own formula. In the short term, it's focusing on in form players considering the pool that we have. And in the process if we do manage to find some champion bowlers that more than welcome For what it's worth, I am happy that Ind finished off 2009 as the #1 team. This is a new year so let the competition open again. Let's see which team has in it to snatch the title from Ind (and more importantly have qualities to be a long term #1). I guess Ind looks forward to a decent challenge, it's what sports is all about!

[Aaku]

:isalute:

[Fontaine]

It's easy to criticize, what's difficult is to appreciate and show a way forward. It easy to say Ind doesn't have a champion bowler, what's difficult is to show the way to get one.

Well it all depends. The hardest part in my opinion is finding the kind of natural talent that makes up a great bowler. And I would submit that with guys like Sreesanth, Ishant, and maybe even Pathan have that kind of natural talent. The goal is to get these guys to be consistent. Each one of these guys has had spells of bowling, against top sides where they bowl great. Setting up batsmen with deliveries that move off the seam or swing followed up by wonderful deliveries that keep straight or move the other way. Until they learn to do that consistently, they won't be the kind of bowlers needed for test matches. Also, playing so much cricket over the IPL and ODI formats with useless pitches completey changes their bowling also.