Australian captain Ricky Ponting on Wednesday showered rich praise on Mahendra Singh Dhoni, saying winning a high-profile tournament immediately after taking over the reins of captaincy is a big achievement.
"Leading a team to such a triumph just after taking over as captain is a great achievement. A captain is as good as the team he gets. Lot of players stood up and rose to the occasion at the Twenty20 World Cup and that helped Dhoni a lot," Ponting said in Bangalore.
He will miss the first few games of the seven-match ODI series against India because of a hernia injury he sustained during the Twenty20 World Cup.
Australia's vice-captain Adam Gilchrist also believes Dhoni showed great maturity while leading the team in South Africa and played a key role in India's triumph.
"One of the main reasons for India's triumph in South Africa was that the side was well-led. Dhoni did a terrific job, applied well into the game. The team played the big moments very well. Dhoni handled himself with a lot of dignity off the field, while on it he seemed to have a cool mind and a well planned strategy, which are qualities of a good captain. He also has a lot control over his emotions," Gilchrist said.
But opening batsman Matthew Hayden issued a word of caution to Dhoni, saying the real estimation of his captaincy would come after a couple of series.
"He has been impressive in South Africa. But his biggest test will come as the days progress in the captaincy seat. These are still early days for him as the captain and the success over a period of time as captain of a side depends on how much a person learns and adapts to different situations and challenges" he said.
Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Ramesh Powar and Zaheer Khan, who all were not part of the Twenty20 World Cup squad, had nets on Thursday.
They had a one-and-half hour practice session at the M Chinnaswamy stadium under the supervision of bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad.
The rest of the players, who were part of the Twenty20 World Cup-winning squad, will reach Bangalore on Friday morning.
