Mahendra Singh Dhoni, for sure, knows the difference between playing aggressive cricket and showing aggression on the field. He admires the definition that Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble have of the word “aggression.”
Equally, it was clear on Thursday that the skipper does not subscribe to the idea of aggression that the likes of Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir, or Ishant Sharma seem to have.
If Kumble, with his jaw strapped, bowling in Antigua against the West Indies in 2002 is remembered as an act of aggression from the genial leg-spinner, Dhoni recalled Dravid’s words that a “good forward defence to a very quick fast bowler is aggressive play.”
Talking to mediapersons ahead of Friday’s T20 series-opener against South Africa, Dhoni said, “Our guys are learning how to channelise aggression. We want to play aggressively but within the guidelines. There should be no disciplinary action on anyone.”
He was categorical in saying that this three-match series was not going to have much impact on the composition of the team for next year’s World Cup (in March-April). “We play lots of T20 matches from January and you can rotate the players. You want your top-six batsmen in good form and the best bowlers to have enough matches.”
Earlier, South Africa’s skipper Faf du Plessis expressed confidence in his spin options. “We’ve got spinners we know who can win us games. Imran (Tahir) has proven it right across the world with the white ball.
“We have always relied on pace to strike first and now our success in one-dayers or T20s rests heavily on his shoulders. Nice to know we have also got a weapon in the spin department. JP (Duminy) also has had success in T20. He gets wickets all the time. Then we have young (leg) spinner in Eddie Leie, almost tapping into Imran’s knowledge.”
Explaining why his team was practising with wet cricket balls on Thursday, he said, “Big surprise [Wednesday evening] there was dew at half past six. Dew is never a nice thing for a bowling team or fielding team because the ball gets slippery. The wet ball takes away a little bit of challenge from the spinners because it does not spin much.”
