Former South Africa cricketer Jonty Rhodes was full of praise for the Indian team's fine display against Australia in the ongoing four-Test rubber, saying the home country's 'Fab Four' batsmen are showing that they are improving with age.
But he also cautioned the hosts not to take the Aussies lightly, after thumping them by a whopping 320 runs in the second Test at Mohali to go 1-0 up in the series, in the last two games coming up in Delhi and Nagpur.
"The Indian team is always formidable at home. The current lot of new ball bowlers (Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma) are really fast bowlers. They swing the new ball, then reverse swing the old ball, like Wasim (Akram) and Waqar (Younis) once did for Pakistan. India now don't depend totally on spinners to get twenty wickets," said Rhodes.
Rhodes, in Mumbai to promote South African wines, also said the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and V V S Laxman are getting better with age.
"The Indian team is well-balanced now and the Fab Four are showing they are getting better with age. The Bangalore Test gave an indication of what happened in the second Test. Australia have shown in the last ten years that when they are ahead of the game they close the door (on the rivals)," he said.
Rhodes, who has joined the Mumbai Indians IPL team as its fielding coach, was referring to the fact that though Australia had the edge by taking the first innings lead in the series opener at Bangalore they could not force victory.
"But Australia are a very proud team. They will be bouncing back quickly," he added.
But the man who used to draw crowds to grounds for his fielding and catching abilities alone, said what is happening to Australia following the retirement of some great cricketers could happen to India when the top players from the country call it a day.
"They (the current Australian team) don't have great quick bowlers or spinners. It seems it's the start of a new era for Australia. From an Indian point of view the only concern for me is what will happen in a year's time. Australia are showing that there's no substitute for experience."
He also drew a parallel with his own country's example by saying that retired South African great all-rounder Shaun Pollock cannot be replaced even though they have unearthed someone like Albie Morkel.
Rhodes, who has played against and admired Tendulkar when turning out for South Africa, was also fulsome in his praise of the Indian champion batsman for having overtaken West Indian Brian Lara as the world's highest run-getter in Tests and said that his stupendous career has shown that nice people too can emerge victors in life.
"He's an amazing guy. He has been so consistent on and off the field after starting to play (international cricket) at the age of 16. He has a superb record in every country, including Australia, South Africa. I am not surprised he got to the record. It shows nice people can win too," he said.
Asked about his one-time teammate and current India coach Gary Kirsten's contribution to the home team, Rhodes said he brings on to the table the ethics of hard work and a cool and calm demeanour.
"He (Kirsten) is very level-headed. I think he will bring calmness and composure. He's not a front page headline grabbing coach but a behind-the-scenes man. He also brings very good work ethics," Rhodes said about his countryman, the current India chief coach.
Rhodes felt that though Mahendra Singh Dhoni did a great job in Mohali and previously against his own country at Kanpur as stand-in captain when regular skipper Anil Kumble was injured and not available, he needs to be judged over a longer period of time.
"M S Dhoni had a great Test match. His bowling changes and field placements were spot on. He's a street smart cricketer but his captaincy can be judged by how consistent he is. Anil Kumble has played in a lot of countries and that sort of experience is hard to be given the go-by. I cannot say who (between the two) is the better captain."
The former South Africa middle order batsman was not too concerned about the small crowds witnessed in the stadia for the first two India-Australia Tests, in Bangalore and Mohali, but said the key is how many people watched the game on television.
"With so many games on you can't expect big crowds at the stadium. Yes, I expected more people to see Sachin get past Lara's record. But, to me, the key is whether people sitting at home are watching other sports. You make up for the crowds in Twenty20 cricket," he said.
Rhodes also welcomed the T20 cricket's advent saying, "It gets the spectators to become involved and is great for the game."
