Mumbai: Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke praised Indian team’s bench strength and felt the Virat Kohli led side will be hard to beat for next five-six years if they keep the attitude going instilled in the Team once by Sourav Ganguly.
“India are a threat to becoming the best team in the world for not just one year but for the next 5-10 years. That’s because their depth is so strong and bench strength is so strong. India is brilliant team particularly in ODIs. They can adjust in England conditions. Wickets will be different in Tests and in World Cup there are likely batting wickets. If they got attitude they are going to be tough to beat,” he said.
Clarke quoted an incident were Sourav trolled Australian skipper Ricky Ponting to send a message that they no longer are going to be bullied by Aussies.
“At a toss he once called Head Tail and Indian went on to bat first making some 500-run odd score. Our skipper was clueless and Sourav sent in a message that they are no longer going to be bullied and deserves credit for instilling fearless attitude in the Indian team,” he said.
Clarke backed Ashwin for taking the sacking from limited overs cricket on the chin. “Sometimes in leadership position, you make tough decisions based on what you feel is the best interest of your team. The person you bring in takes confidence from that because you have selected them. But you have to drop someone. It’s hard because you’re not dropping someone because they are not good.”
“I feel Ashwin and Jadeja also deserve a lot of credit because of taking it on the chin. You watch Ashwin now and he has always bowled brilliant at the front of the hand, now he is bowling leg-spin to right-handers. He has gone away with the right attitude to improve his game and go back into the team. Whether he does or not is irrelevant but the fact that they are trying to get better is helping Indian cricket,” Clarke opined.
