Adam Gilchrist feels Mahendra Singh Dhoni should bat up the order for the rest of the ongoing one-day series. He was echoing the sentiments of former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who had said India's captain should get enough overs to play himself in.
"Dhoni is a dangerous player. You can make that out in the manner he comes out to bat. Personally speaking, I would love to see him bat up the order, especially in the shorter version of the game.
"He (Dhoni) is a good finisher of the innings and has shown the skills time and again by helping the team amass big scores or chase down huge totals. He paces his innings really well.
"You would want your best player to get maximum overs and contribute to the success of the team.
"But I guess he has got too much on plate at the moment. I'm sure he knows what he is doing and he and Gary (Kirsten) will work it out pretty soon," added Gilchrist.
The former Australia captain, who conquered what Steve Waugh had termed the 'Final Frontier' in the 2004 Test series in India, was in Mumbai as ambassador for the University of Wollongong to promote opportunities for Indian information and communications technology (ICT) companies to establish Australian operations at the Innovation Campus.
Before the start of the series Ganguly had said Dhoni's showing will be crucial to India's chances against Australia. He also felt the wicketkeeper-batsman is being wasted batting at number five or six.
Quizzed about the scheduling of the seven-match series, Gilchrist said: "There is too much of cricket being played at the moment and I totally agree with Ricky (Ponting) that the seven-match series is a bit too much.
"The scheduling was a crazy little period for the Aussies. First the Champions Trophy, then the Champions League Twenty20 and now the seven-match series.
"I think ICC was playing catch up with the Champions Trophy, as it was scheduled last year in Pakistan. But, then again, it's difficult scheduling the game when you have security issues.
"But, then again, players too need to make that decision. For example, if there is a break due to the IPL, it's up to the player take the call. Ricky, Mitchell Johnson, Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin opted out of the last IPL so that they could be fresh for the Twenty World Cup and the Champions Trophy," he added.
The 37-year-old said the visitors will surely miss the services of Lee, Johnson and Hopes, who are forced to sit out of the second One-day International in Nagpur because of injuries.
"It's a big blow, just like India missed Yuvraj (Singh).
"But then, it's opportunity for other guys in the squad who are around the edge to stand up and perform," he added.
Gilchrist feels Ishant Sharma, Harbahjan Singh, Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey will be the impact players in the tournament.
"If Ishant continues to bowl the way he did in Australia he can be a tough customer. And, of course, I expect Harbhajan to come good, not only with the bat but also with the ball.
"For the Australians, Ricky Ponting is in good form and Hussey, who was going through some tough period, has come good with the bat," he said.
Gilchrist said the Champions League is an interesting concept and shouldn't be compared to IPL.
"Champions League is a fantastic concept, but we got to be patient with it. It is a concept that has to be developed and has the capacity to go anywhere in the world. Meanwhile, IPL is something that people loved and it showed that it can go anywhere and succeed.
"But I think that IPL should remain an Indian-based competition and the Champions League should be the one that should be taken around," said the Deccan Chargers skipper.
