HYDERABAD: Under-fire Indian opener Gautam Gambhir earned firm backing from captain MS Dhoni ahead of the second Test against New Zealand that starts today. The left-hander has struggled with the bat of late, aggregating a mere 86 from his last 10 Test innings.
Gambhir missed India’s Test against Australia last month with a knee injury and his replacement Murali Vijay scored 139, putting pressure on his more experienced teammate.
“Players do go out of form,” said Dhoni. “It happens to everyone in cricket. Gambhir has set the benchmark so high that expectations of him have grown. With Gambhir, it is more about the pressure to perform than the fear of failure. The kind of innings he has played in the past shows how good a cricketer he is. He is returning from an injury and is working hard on his fitness. I am sure he will come good with the bat.”
Gambhir, with 2,846 runs from 34 Tests at an average of nearly 50, has been pivotal in India’s rise to the top of Test rankings.
The India captain also hoped the wicket at the new Rajiv Gandhi Stadium – hosting its first Test – would give the bowlers a fair chance after a placid one in Ahmedabad made the draw all but inevitable.
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said the team was looking to sustain the momentum gained. “We did well as a team in Ahmedabad. But that does not count much now. It is always a big challenge to take 20 wickets in India where the wicket suits the batsman.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 12th, 2010.
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