Australian spin legend Shane Warne slams Dhoni, Raina

Tags: India tour of England - 2011, Australia, India, Shane Keith Warne, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Suresh Kumar Raina, Test match, captaincy

Published on: Aug 03, 2011

Australian spin legend Shane Warne has launched a severe attack on India's young batsmen and felt MS Dhoni's captaincy was being affected by his below-par wicketkeeping as the visitors slumped to a massive 319-run defeat against England in the second Test.

Australian spin legend Shane Warne has launched a severe attack on India's young batsmen and felt MS Dhoni's captaincy was being affected by his below-par wicketkeeping as the visitors slumped to a massive 319-run defeat against England in the second Test.

Warne said to derail India an opposition just need to dismiss their three most experienced batsmen as the rest of the willow-wielders in the side lack fighting spirit.

"As far as the batting is concerned, it is three down, all down. If you get SachinTendulkar, RahulDravid and VVSLaxman out, the rest all follow suit because they can't handle the intensity of the situation," Warne wrote in the Daily Telegraph.

Warne was particularly critical of Suresh Raina and finds the left-hander a misfit for the challenging five-day format.

"The way some of the Indians play the short-ball is embarrassing. Suresh Raina just does not look like a Test player when the ball is dug in. He is OK in Twenty20 and one-day matches because teams can't bowl that many short balls at him, but in Test cricket they can batter him."

Warne said the responsibility to lift India rest on skipper Dhoni, whose below-par show behind the stumps is hurting his captaincy.

"India have to bounce back to make this a competitive series and the lead has to come from Dhoni. He needs to lift everyone. He looks too nonchalant at the moment. He has lost his positive body language. "The captain has to set the tone with the fielding. He cannot hang on to a ball behind the stumps and that is hurting his captaincy, batting and having an impact on the whole team. He needs to work really hard on his keeping over the next week because you can't carry on like that," he said.

"There is an argument that says he should not be playing the next game because he can't keep hold of the ball. Dhoni is a quality person and leader so I am sure he will turn it around but deep down he will feel a bit embarrassed about how it has been going," Warne added.

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