Dhoni defends Cook after series lost against SL

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has begun his team’s tour of England on an unlikely footing, rallying to the defence of his rival skipper Alastair Cook.

In his first media conference ahead of the tourists’ opening hit-out against Leicestershire, Dhoni urged Cook’s growing band of critics to remember what they were saying and writing about the opener when the two teams met previously in the Test arena.

It was important to support rather than criticise a player with such obvious ability when they were enduring a form slump, he said.

“The media is the same, it doesn’t matter if it’s here or back home in India,” Dhoni told reporters at Leicestershire’s county ground, Grace Road.

“It’s very important to back players.

“It doesn’t matter if he’s the captain of the side or a batsman or a bowler.

“What’s important is for the media to realise that the last time we were in India we were speaking about him and how well he’d performed.

“A bad phase is something that everybody goes through.

“You just need to back players at the right point.

“When you’re getting those big hundreds and double hundreds everybody will be on your side.

“The real test of character is when you’re not doing well.

“The toughest period in cricket is when the team is not doing well and people start questioning their own ability.”