Dhoni’s different from me: Gilchrist

Aussie legend analyses MSD the man, the cricketer and the wicketkeeper-batsman

The kind of heroes a person chooses has a huge impact on his life. And the day your name is mentioned in the same breath as your hero, you've bridged the gap between dream and reality. For MS Dhoni, that day came after he played his fifth match for India. No sooner did he butcher the Pakistani bowlers on a sweltering April day in Vizag to score a 123-ball 148, the cricketing world started to hail him as the next Adam Gilchrist.

Dhoni dedicated his maiden ODI century to Gilchrist, and a few years later, one got to know the respect was mutual. “The best compliment for me is when someone says they’ll pay to watch me play,” Gilchrist said. “And I can say that I’ll pay to watch MS Dhoni bat.” Four years have elapsed since the world’s best wicketkeeper-batsman made that statement, and the respect has only grown. 

Currently in India to lead Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2012, Gilchrist spared quality time to talk about the man and the cricketer he so admires. Responding to all the comparisons between him and Dhoni, Gilchrist said, “MS is not the next Gilchrist. He’s the first MS Dhoni”. 

Here’s more on what the legend had to say about Indian cricket’s most inspirational leader. 

A maverick, a genius

I am extremely impressed with him as a cricketer. From what I can see, he has always been courteous, friendly and a warm person. His calmness is his greatest asset amongst fine skills, great power and so on. It’s a difficult job to keep full-time in the subcontinent alongside batting and captaining the side. I think he has done a remarkable job. Everything he adds in different aspects of the game makes him a wonderful package for a cricket team. He seems to me like a very calculative and a smart cricketer who knows what he can do but doesn’t necessarily plan it all the time. He reacts to whatever happens in front of him. Of the current lot, Dhoni is my favourite wicketkeeper-batsman. 

‘Keeper of faith

A lot has been spoken about his keeping and people say that there are potentially better wicketkeepers in India, which I am not sure about. For me, MS does a terrific job behind the stumps. I believe he is not a huge trainer when it comes to his wicketkeeping. I have been told that he does very limited wicketkeeping drills and practice, and that’s really interesting. I have seen him at a constantly acceptable level and haven’t seen him making blunders that have cost his team. 

A mix of fire and ice

His biggest strength in batting is his power. He hits the ball with great power and can dispatch a very good delivery out of the ground. The helicopter shot that he plays, is very unique and difficult to play. He seems to have taken a more mature and a stable approach of finishing the games. He can change his game in the last five overs knowing that no ground is big enough for him. He can clear the rope five or six times in the final overs, and all of a sudden the target becomes easy. 

His bane in Test cricket

He is perhaps in two minds on which way to go in Test cricket. I would love to see him play his natural game, which is full of aggression and flair. He should just feel confident and go out and play his natural game. That’s where you can see match-changing innings from such players batting at seven. He comes after a star-studded batting line-up, and he shouldn’t feel responsible if they don’t perform. 

A man of his own

I have been told earlier about him dedicating his first century to me and that really is nice. I feel thrilled to hear such a thing from any cricketer. He is very much his own man as far as I can see. The manner through which he came into the limelight was lighting fast. He very quickly formed his own personality and his own style. He’s completely different from me. He is not a great believer in training too hard. I, on the other hand, had to and wanted to prepare excessively before each game. He’s great at finishing the games in the limited overs format and I often batted up the order. He can adapt his game according to the situation – playing anchor or aggressor. I don’t see any kind of similarity between me and him. He is not the second Adam Gilchrist; he’s the first MS Dhoni. 

CSK vs MI Revenge Game

Teams aim for surge after wins

Match facts

Sunday, May 6
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)

Big Picture

Wins for Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in their previous games helped clear a few lingering doubts for both teams. Mumbai Indians just about held on, but got their opening combination to click. They had tried six combinations in nine games prior to that; with James Franklin and Sachin Tendulkar adding 50, they may have finally settled on one. But the middle-order collapse that ensued and the absence of Kieron Pollard due to injury pose another headache.

Super Kings' win over Deccan Chargers revived their campaign, helping them bounce back after a winless two weeks that involved two losses and a rained-out game. The win also kept them marginally ahead of competitors below them in the points table and with the tournament now well past the half-way stage, Super Kings need to achieve some consistency to retain that advantage.

Form guide

(most recent first, completed games)

Chennai Super Kings: WLLWW
Mumbai Indians: WWLWL

Players to watch

It is probably safe to say that Lasith Malinga would be leading the wicket-taking charts this IPL had he played all of his team's 10 matches. He missed three due to a back injury, but since his return has continued to be his side's MVP, playing an instrumental role in his side's two wins in that period.

Suresh Raina, after an indifferent start to the season, has finally got going, making 44 and 32 in his previous two games. But he's been relatively restrained on a slowish Chennai track, and will hope the Mumbai conditions offer him a chance to be play with more freedom.

Stats and trivia

• Seamers have taken 310 wickets thus far in the IPL, out of 464, almost 67%. Spinners, though, have been marginally more economical, going at 7.26 an over as opposed to 7.82 *
• Fifteen matches thus far in the IPL have gone into the last over.
  Quotes
  "Franklin gives us stability (in the top order), but we are still looking for a middle-order batsman who can fill Franklin's spot. We have Dwayne Smith (he has joined the squad as a replacement for the injured Mitchell Johnson) and hopefully he can fill that slot."
  Harbhajan Singh on Mumbai Indians' middle-order problem.
  "We have the best fielding unit in the tournament but still there are areas we need to improve like with our direct throws. For a team, there is always some scope of improvement."
  Suresh Raina

Can RCB Win against CSK

Match facts

Wednesday, April 25, Bangalore
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)

Big Picture

Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore have a South African player each to thank for getting their  campaigns on track after both sides had middling starts to the season. Defending champions Super Kings lost two of their first three games while Royal Challengers had a run of three straight losses. Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers have had a role to play in every win their sides have registered. Du Plessis has been solid at the top of the order with three brisk half-centuries while de Villiers, even when he's not made a fifty, has been instrumental in getting his team home under pressure, as he did against Pune Warriors.

Royal Challengers' batting has been more destructive with the added advantage of having Chris Gayle. Super Kings have had the edge in bowling, though, with Royal Challengers conceding 45 in the last two overs to lose a game they had almost won after posting 205 against the former in Chennai. Payback will be on Royal Challengers' minds for their home game after three consecutive wins, but will their bowling hold up?

Form guide

Royal Challengers Bangalore WWWLL
Chennai Super Kings WWLWL

Player to watch

While the focus has been on Gayle, AB de Villiershas scored nearly as many runs as the former at a better strike-rate, 164.02 against 152.43. He has been incredibly proficient at scoring runs behind square on both sides of the wicket. Scoops and reverse-hits have fetched him plenty of boundaries. Royal Challengers have lost all three games in which he has failed.

Stats and trivia

• Gayle has hit the most number of sixes so far this season - 19.
• Royal Challengers have lost their last three games against Super Kings.
  Quotes
  "Virat played very well in Chennai, and we are very new into the season. Virat's one of the best players in the world, so he is going to come good and win us a couple of games before this tournament is over."
  Daniel Vettori, the Royal Challengers captain, is not worried about Virat Kohli's lean run so far

IPL Stats: Super Kings the team to beat

A stats review of the four previous IPL seasons

With the Twenty20 World Cup to be played later this year in Sri Lanka, this edition of the IPL promises to have a far greater context than the 2011 season of the IPL which started within a week of India's successful World Cup campaign. Chennai Super Kings, who have been the most consistent team across the four seasons, remain favourites for the title. They made the final of the inaugural season in 2007-08, losing by a narrow margin to Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals. In the next three seasons, Super Kings made one semi-final (2009 in South Africa) and won the last two tournaments. Their top-class record in the IPL can be gauged from their displays in each season. There has not been a single season in which they've lost more matches than they've won. Their overall win-loss ratio across four seasons (1.54) is comfortably ahead of second-placed Mumbai Indians, who have a corresponding value of 1.26.

Super Kings, who defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore in a one-sided final last year, had an outstanding run in the 2011 tournament and finished with a win-loss ratio greater than two (2.20) in the season. For most of the other teams, winning consistently hasn't been as easy. Deccan Chargers, who won the title in 2009, have been less consistent, winning only 25 matches and losing 35. Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders have all been mediocre throughout and never dominated any season. Royals stunned everybody by winning the title in 2008 while boasting a win-loss ratio of 4.33 (13 wins to three losses). However, since then, their form has deteriorated sharply - they won 17 and lost 22 in the previous three tournaments.

Records of the nine teams in IPL (Won/lost, W/L ratio) *

Team	2008	2009	2010	2011	Overall (played, wins/losses, w/l ratio)
Super Kings	9/7, 1.28	8/6, 1.33	9/6, 1.50	11/5, 2.20	62, 37/24, 1.54
Indians	7/7, 1.00	5/8, 0.62	11/5, 2.20	10/6, 1.66	59, 33/26, 1.26
Royals	13/3, 4.33	5/7, 0.71	6/8, 0.75	6/7, 0.85	56, 30/25, 1.20
Royal Challengers	4/10, 0.40	9/7, 1.28	8/8, 1.00	10/6, 1.66	62, 31/31, 1.00
Daredevils	7/7, 1.00	10/5, 2.00	7/7, 1.00	4/9, 0.44	57, 28/28, 1.00
Kings XI	10/5, 2.00	7/7, 1.00	3/10, 0.30	7/7, 1.00	57, 27/29, 0.93
Knight Riders	6/7, 0.85	3/9, 0.33	7/7, 1.00	8/7, 1.14	55, 24/30, 0.80
Chargers	2/12, 0.16	9/7, 1.28	8/8, 1.00	6/8, 0.75	60, 25/35, 0.71
Warriors	-	-	-	4/9, 0.44	14, 4/9, 0.44

* Stats only for teams playing this year's IPL

Super Kings' domination is reflected in the batting and bowling stats. Their run rate has always been ahead of their economy rate in each of the seasons and the difference between the two (run-rate difference) was as high as 0.51 in 2012. Chargers finished with a low economy rate (7.52) in 2009, when they won the title and maintained a positive run-rate difference, but struggled to do the same consistently since then. Indians, who also have an excellent record overall in the IPL, have a positive run-rate difference in all four seasons, with their best run coming in the 2010 season (difference of 0.80), when they lost in the finals to Super Kings. However, from the table, it is easy to observe that all teams had low run rates and economy rates in 2009, when the tournament was played in South Africa.

Batting and bowling stats of the IPL teams (rr/econ rate)

Team	2008	2009	2010	2011	Overall
Super Kings	8.44/8.42	8.10/7.54	8.33/7.94	8.13/7.62	8.25/7.89
Chargers	8.29/8.70	7.90/7.52	7.62/8.03	7.66/7.56	7.86/7.93
Daredevils	8.48/8.34	7.73/7.54	7.92/7.85	7.84/8.34	7.98/8.00
Kings XI	8.81/8.54	7.19/7.58	8.26/8.73	8.10/8.43	8.10/8.34
Knight Riders	7.79/8.05	7.20/7.87	7.87/8.19	7.51/7.26	7.60/7.82
Indians	8.34/8.05	7.40/7.23	8.63/7.83	7.54/7.48	7.96/7.65
Warriors	-	-	-	7.24/7.24	7.24/7.24
Royals	8.74/7.89	6.82/7.02	8.13/8.59	7.15/7.65	7.77/7.79
Royal Challengers	7.43/8.42	7.35/7.51	8.16/7.95	8.40/8.07	7.83/7.97

Barring 2009, all other tournaments have been high scoring ones. The inaugural tournament in 2008 comprised 58 matches and the run rate was 8.30 with an average run-per-match figure of 309.25. However, in South Africa, both these values dropped to 7.48 and 286.31. A significant dip is also observed in the boundary-run percentage, which fell from 58.76 in 2008 to 50.85 in 2009. The average wickets-per-match figure in 2009 (12.2) is also higher than all other tournaments, which is indicative of the bowler-friendly conditions in South Africa. In 2010, when the IPL moved back to India, the average run-per-match figure shot back up to 314.40 but the boundary-run percentage in 2010 (54.84) was not as high as in the previous tournament in India. The 2011 tournament had a lower run-rate (7.72) than both the 2008 and 2010 tournaments and also a low value of average runs-per-match (289.78), which is better only when compared to the 2009 tournament. The 2008 and 2010 editions also had the highest number of fifties per match (1.53). The tournament held in South Africa (2009) finished bottom on this scale as well - 1.22.

Comparison of batting and bowling stats across four IPL seasons

Season	Country	Matches	RPO/RPW	Runs/match	Boundary %	Boundary runs/match	50-plus scores/match	Wickets/match
2008	India	58	8.30/26.03	309.25	58.76	181.72	1.53	11.87
2009	South Africa	57	7.48/23.41	286.31	50.85	145.61	1.22	12.22
2010	India	60	8.12/26.20	314.40	54.84	172.43	1.53	12.00
2011	India	73	7.72/26.01	289.78	54.29	157.34	1.30	11.13
Overall	India/South Africa	248	7.90/25.44	299.49	54.75	164	1.39	11.77

A comparison of the run rates and boundary percentages across the different phases of an innings has interesting results. In the first six-over period, the run rate in the 2010 tournament (7.89) is the highest, followed by 2008, when it was 7.70. The boundary percentage in 2008 (66.70) is the highest among all tournaments while the lowest figure is surprisingly in the 2011 tournament (62.80). Although the 2011 tournament was held in India, the run rate in the first-six over period was the lowest (7.20). The boundary-run percentage in the middle-over period (overs 7-14) in 2008 is much higher than the corresponding numbers in the other tournaments. The averages are generally higher in the middle overs owing to a slightly more conservative approach by batsmen during this period. The run rate in the final overs (overs 15-20) is the highest in 2008 (9.75) and has been over nine in all seasons except 2009, when the figure was marginally lower (8.91).

Scoring patterns in the four seasons across an innings (rr/avg, boundary%)

Phase of innings	2008	2009	2010	2011	Overall
Overs 1-6	7.70/30.44, 66.70	7.22/26.37, 63.89	7.89/32.28, 65.50	7.20/29.82, 62.80	7.49/29.68, 64.37
Overs 7-14	7.87/31.69, 51.75	6.72/26.39, 40.41	7.54/28.41, 45.97	7.30/32.12, 47.57	7.36/29.95, 46.70
Overs 15-20	9.75/18.94, 60.32	8.91/18.48, 50.67	9.24/20.56, 55.35	9.01/19.09, 54.88	9.21/19.26, 55.31

The spinners did not have much of an impact in the first season of the IPL, taking 134 wickets while the fast bowlers picked up 445. The spinners also had a slightly higher average and economy rate in 2008 compared to the quicks. However, in the second season (2009), the percentage contribution of wickets for spinners went up. Not only were the averages and economy rates lower for spinners, but the figures for boundary percentage and dot-ball percentage were also better than those for the pace bowlers. In the 2010 and 2011 season, the economy rates for spinners (7.34 and 7.12) were considerably better than those of pace bowlers. Overall, across the four seasons, pace bowlers have picked up more than twice the number of wickets that spinners have. However, spinners have better values of economy rate, average and boundary-run percentage.

Pace/spin in the four seasons of the IPL

Season	Pace (wickets/avg, econ rate)	Pace (dot-ball%/ boundary%)	Spin (wickets/avg, econ rate)	Spin (dot-ball%/ boundary%)
2008	445/29.23, 8.09	41.18/61.60	134/30.38, 8.19	35.79/56.20
2009	388/26.25, 7.65	42.95/57.24	226/24.77, 6.76	37.33/42.68
2010	405/29.64, 8.32	38.34/59.17	210/28.80, 7.34	36.94/50.41
2011	470/28.12, 7.80	41.04/58.32	267/27.66, 7.12	38.56/50.73
Overall	1708/28.34, 7.97	40.86/59.18	837/27.60, 7.25	37.39/49.66

Except for the occasional low-scoring match, most games in the IPL have been run fests. Teams scored over 200 on 17 occasions while batting first, and have also managed chases of 180-plus targets 13 times. Chennai, the home ground of the defending champions, Super Kings, has had the average runs-per-match figure drop from a high of 333.71 in 2008 to 313.44 in 2011. The run-rate, which was 8.52 in 2008, fell to 7.86 in 2011 and the average run-rate across the three seasons is 8.17. The Eden Gardens in Kolkata has generally been a difficult venue to score on and this is reflected in the low values of run-rate and average runs-per-match across the three seasons. Bangalore and Mohali have been high-scoring venues with the latter in particular having a high value of runs-per-match (330.75) and run-rate (8.51) across the three tournaments.

Venue stats across the seasons (Indian venues only)- (matches/runs per match, average/economy rate)

Venue	2008	2010	2011	Overall
Chennai	7/333.71, 28.83/8.52	7/318.00, 27.14/8.21	9/313.44, 27.12/7.86	23/321.00, 27.65/8.17
Kolkata	7/263.28, 22.20/7.36	7/309.57, 30.95/8.00	7/264.85, 25.75/7.28	21/279.23, 26.06/7.55
Delhi	6/325.16, 30.96/9.11	7/309.86, 22.36/7.98	7/269.14, 25.45/7.87	20/300.20, 25.65/8.28
Bangalore	7/291.71, 22.94/7.79	7/323.43, 30.59/8.51	6/274.66, 27.46/7.65	20/297.70, 26.69/8.01
Jaipur	7/302.28, 24.32/7.95	3/294.33, 28.48/7.97	7/277.71, 28.17/7.32	17/290.76, 26.43/7.70
Mohali	7/350.42, 30.28/8.93	5/325.40, 26.24, 8.23	4/303.00, 22.86/8.12	16/330.75, 27.00/8.51
Mumbai	6/277.33, 23.11/8.10	0	9/302.33, 28.05/7.81	15/292.33, 25.94/7.91
Hyderabad	7/342.00, 28.84/8.86	0	7/311.14, 27.56/7.95	14/326.57, 28.22/8.40