Containing Chris Gayle will be critical to India’s chances against the West Indies on Tuesday, believes M.S. Dhoni.
“The Gayle factor will always be there,” the Indian skipper said at The Oval on the eve of the match. “He is one of those individuals who has a big impact on the game. It’s always good to get him out early. Our fast bowlers will have a fair chance in that they’ll have two new balls to get him out. If you don’t get Chris Gayle out, he will most likely take you out of the game.”
Asked if conditions would lead him to field a fourth seamer, Dhoni jested that every time “we do that, we lose the game and the captain gets banned (for slow over-rate).”
He noted, though, that the pitch was the same as the one that had been used in the previous game. “It has a bit of a grass covering, and it had a bit of bounce in the last game, but since it’s a used wicket it may be that the spinners could get a bit more turn compared to the last game.” West Indies coach Otis Gibson insisted that his batsmen were not simply big hitters. “You saw against Pakistan, that Kieron Pollard, Marlon Samuels, even Chris to a certain extent, curbed their natural attacking instincts.
“Pollard played outstandingly well for us until he got a good ball, but you didn’t see the sort of big hitting that you might see in the IPL. We’re finding out that a lot of our players, especially the IPL players, are able to adapt and play along when the situation requires,” he said.
