India captain Rahul Dravid on Wednesday showered accolades on Mahendra Singh Dhoni, saying that the Jharkhand wicketkeeper-batsman has become a mature cricketer and has learnt to adapt his game according to the situation.
"He [Dhoni] has a mature head. He plays different cricket for different situations. If we need a quickfire innings, he plays that and if we need a controlled innings he plays that," Dravid said after India posted a five-wicket win against Sri Lanka in the third one-day international in Margao.
Dhoni scored a crucial 67 not out while stitching a match-winning stand of 133 runs with Dravid (66) that helped India recover from a precarious 94 for 4.
Dravid was furious at himself for getting out with four runs required for victory, although he was run out in unfortunate manner, when he backed too far and Dhoni's shot ricocheted off bowler Malinga Bandara's hand on to the non-striker's stumps.
The captain said he wanted to stay till the end and did not want to repeat the mistake of last match when India, chasing a target of 258, slumped from 235 for five and were bowled out for 252.
"We did not want to lose another wicket at that stage. We know that it is not easy chasing on these wickets. We were totally determined to finish it off this time," he said.
Dravid also praised Zaheer Khan (5 for 42) for his fiery bowling that spelt disaster for Sri Lanka in the morning.
"It was a great effort by the bowlers, specially Zaheer upfront. But 230 was a good effort by Sri Lanka."
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena said his side never recovered from the bad start in the morning.
"It was set back right at the start [when Sri Lanka were reduced to 6 for 3] Zaheer bowled very well. But we made a good recovery and came back strongly," he said.
"Rahul and Dhoni batted very well. At that time I could not attack more and they controlled the innings very well."
Man-of-the match Zaheer Khan said, "the rhythm in last few months has been good. I am happy to peak at the right time for the World Cup."
Asked about his comeback in the Indian team and the stint in county cricket Zaheer said, "I did a lot of bowling there and that really helped."
