Dhoni and Co better suited for T20 than Tests, felt Ponting

Natasha Chaku
Melbourne, Nov 18 (PTI) Blissfully unaware of the series bashing that awaited him in India, Australian captain Ricky Ponting considered Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men better-suited for Twenty20 cricket rather than Tests after their World Cup triumph in South Africa.

Recalling the success of Indian team in the Twenty20
World Cup, Ponting wrote in his book 'Captain's Diary 2008'
that Dhoni was a "classic example" of a player who could
damage the opposition in the shortest version, which offers
little scope for a batsman to showcase his technique.

"Teams that are outclassed in five-day matches and even
50-over games are much more competitive in Twenty20. India
offer a good example of this. The shorter the format of the
game the more dangerous they become," Ponting said.

"Some of their batsmen -- Yuvraj Singh and M S Dhoni are
classic examples -- can hurt you more in shorter games,
because their is less opportunity to find ways of picking
apart their techniques," he while adding that "Form in
Twenty20 really doesn't count for all that much".

Having said so, Ponting also dismissed India's successful
journey to the T20 world title, attributing it to more luck
and little skills.

"I am not as cynical about the game as I once was, but
some negatives still nag at me. There is so much luck involved
in this shortened form of the game; it's not always going to
be the best team that wins.

"I guess that's true of all sport but it seems to be
accentuated here... Little wonder, then, that the tournament
has been unpredictable, with many locals stunned that
previously unbeaten South Africa was eliminated so comfortably
by India," he said.

Dhoni, however, went on to prove Ponting wrong as he led
India to a thumping 2-0 win in the recent four-Test series.

The Tasmanian right-hander said he wondered why Dhoni had
complained against him about sledging during the a one-dayer
in Kochi last year.

"After the game, at the captain's media conference, MS
Dhoni revealed that he had complained to the umpires about
what he called 'harsh' language that I and some other
Australian players had reputedly used on the field.

"I really don't know where he was coming from. The
umpires didn't have a problem, match referee Chris Broad
didn't have a problem and I wonder whether Dhoni was trying to
somehow square the ledger after the controversy that engulfed
S Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh in Kochi."

Ponting said Dhoni's behaviour was rather strange as
Broad had lauded his team's approach towards the game.

"I actually sat on the plane right behind Chris Broad,
and he made a point of turning around and congratulating me
for the way out team approached the game". PTI SKI