Hyderabad, Mar 1: Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin feels that Mahendra Singh Dhoni's magnificent batting form reflected on his captaincy which helped India produce a clinical performance in the first Test against Australia.
“I think he pointed it out himself after the match that he isn't sure whether he would be able to replicate the performance again. I mean he scored two hundreds in almost two sessions which was extraordinary,” Ashwin told reporters ahead of the second Test match starting here tomorrow.
“In fact, he (Dhoni) set the tempo as a captain and his performance reflected on his field settings and bowling changes. We didn't look back after that. If someone plays an innings like that, it can be demoralising for any opposition,” he said.
The burly Tamil Nadu tweaker also played a major part in the first Test with his 12-wicket haul and the confidence with which he is known to answer queries from the media was back in his voice.
Asked about the competition between the spinners with obvious reference being Harbhajan Singh, he gave a terse reply.
“Competition always existed, it still exists and will continue to exist. I don't even think about it. And it's you people (pointing at the scribes) who are delegated to make comparisons, so why do I need to bother,” he said in a matter-of-factly.
A reply in the similar vein came when asked about whether the English spin duo of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar were better in comparison to Nathan Lyon and Co.
“I am not good enough to make comparisons. It's for you guys to judge whether Monty and Swann were better than the Australians. You guys are better suited to say whether Indian team had a good time against Australia.”
