Cricket

Dhoni backs Kumble to lead

Indian one-day and Twenty20 captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has come out in support of Test skipper Anil Kumble amid talks of the Test captaincy be also handed over to him.

In Vadodara for the Irani Cup tie between Ranji champions Delhi and Rest of India, Dhoni revealed that he was pleased to be playing under the veteran leg-spinner and gave a thumbs up to his captaincy.

“I’m too privileged to be playing under someone as great and modest as Anil Kumble… He commands the respect of his team,” Dhoni was quoted as saying.

The captaincy debate has been raging on ever since India’s shoddy performance in the three-Test series in Sri Lanka which they lost 1-2, while a much younger side reversed the result in the one-day series that followed.

“I’ve never given too much thought about these things. I’m just too happy to be playing for the country and enjoying every moment. I never thought I would play for India but I did. I never dreamt of leading the country but I did,” he said.

The ODI captain shrugged off all speculation and maintained that he was looking forward to playing Australia on home soil.

“The important thing is to understand is that we have a tough series coming up against the best side in the world, so we need to focus on energies like that,” he added.

Tags: anil kumble, Australia, India, irani trophy, MS Dhoni