Vaughan praises Dhoni´s leadership qualities

SYDNEY: Former England captain Michael Vaughan praised India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni´s leadership qualities after overseeing an unbeaten run to the semi-finals coming off a winless Test and one-day series in Australia.

"There´s something about MS Dhoni and World Cups. Whatever he did after the tri-series is remarkable, with the change in the team, the change in mentality, the change in the way they´ve played at the World Cup," Vaughan said at Tuesday´s event.

"MS Dhoni knows how to win a World Cup and I think that goes quite a long way."
Vaughan added: "If India were going to play Australia in a semi-final in Australia, the wicket that they would have chosen would be the SCG. I think it will take some spin.

"We´ve talked a lot about pace -- (Australia´s) Mitchell Starc has been the bowler of the tournament -- but India have the (Ravichandran) Ashwin and (Ravindra) Jadeja combination.

"The spin twins will be very important against Australia and that´s why Smith and Clarke are crucial because they are the two players who play spin the best for Australia and one of those two, I believe, will have to get a decent score."

There were several verbal flare-ups during India´s tour of Australia and Vaughan said more could be expected during the semi-final.

"I can pretty much guarantee that when you play Australia, there will be some words," said Vaughan, England´s Ashes-winning captain in 2005.

"The Indians will give it plenty too, they are not quiet, Virat (Kohli) and co." (AFP)