Dhoni changed his game to last longer: Gavaskar

Mumbai: Indian batting great Sunil Gavaskar feels the change in captain MS Dhoni's approach in batting is an effort to sustain himself in international cricket.

Delivering the first Dilip Sardesai Memorial Lecture here on Thursday, Gavaskar felt that Dhoni's transition as a batsman was nothing to be concerned about.

"As a spectator you want to see him as a dasher because you want to get your money's worth," he said. "But there is also the longevity factor. Dhoni is perhaps cautious in his approach but he is working hard on his batting."

Dhoni, who established himself as a hard-hitting batsman, now prefers to play the sheet-anchor role with the presence of stroke-makers around him.

Gavaskar, who served as chairman, cricket at ICC before quitting his role to focus on his media career, felt Test cricket remained the pinnacle of the sport but didn't offer any comment on the ICC's effort to shorten the Test game to four days.

"If you take a look, most Test matches are giving results in four or four-and-a-half days," he said. Probably that's why they have mooted this idea. I'm sure Test cricket has a place of its own. The players too realise the importance of doing well in Tests."

Moving his focus to the domestic game, Gavaskar didn't think the Deodhar Trophy had been scrapped permanently by the BCCI and that it was due to the IPL.

"I don’t think it's due to the IPL," he said. "There is so much of international cricket - the Champions League T20, Sri Lanka's visit and the tour of Bangladesh - I'm sure it will be back."