Viru, Gautam unstoppable: Dhoni

CHENNAI: It’s the Daredevils who look the hottest side at the moment and there’s a simple reason behind it: they have the hottest opening pair in the tournament.
Matthew Hayden has left, Sourav Ganguly is scratching around, nobody knows when Sachin Tendulkar will take the field but there’s the old firm of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir which is reaping the harvest.
Game after game, they’re setting it up for the Daredevils, and it was no exception on Friday at the Chepauk when they registered a 115-run opening partnership to shut Chennai out of the game and take Delhi to the top of the table.
Even the Chennai skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is not known to be effusive in his praise of the opposition, didn’t mince his words. ‘‘They were just wonderful. And take my word, this partnership is bound to make life difficult for most of the teams in the tournament,’’ Dhoni said. Elaborating on the quality of the opening partnership, Dhoni said:
‘‘They just play every shot in the book. And they complement each other so well. When Viru’s going for the shots, Gauti will just rotate the strike and keep the scoreboard ticking.’’
The Team India ODI skipper feels that when on song, it’s almost impossible to stop them. ‘‘Be it pace or spin, they are good against any attack. If they get a start, these two have the ability to finish a T20 game,’’ he said.
Glenn McGrath, Daredevils’ spearhead, too echoed Dhoni’s thoughts. ‘‘I would prefer not to bowl at Viru. I still remember that day in 2004 when I was bowling to him in Chepauk and he was just smoking me through the covers for one boundary after another,’’ the legend harked back to that Test when Sehwag blasted his way to 155 off 221 balls against a top-quality Aussie attack.
McGrath also made it clear Sehwag has a method to his madness. ‘‘He has this rare ability of forcing the bowler to do what he wants. He will give the charge, make room for himself, make the bowler try short balls and play shots all around the park. It’s a nightmare bowling to him at times,’’ McGrath said.
He was also full of praise for Gambhir, who has been Delhi’s Mr Consistent in the tournament so far. ‘‘There can’t be a better foil for Sehwag than Gambhir. They just go about their job so clinically,’’ he said, adding that it’s their top-three that’s doing the job for them.
McGrath complimented Sehwag’s cricket brain as well. ‘‘I don’t know what happened in between. But I believe Viru would have made a very good Indian captain,’’ McGrath said.