Saturday, June 10 2006 14:39 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

St Lucia: Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a 'positive guy' and that has made him dear to Indians, says West Indian leg-spinner Dave Mohammad after being hit for consecutive sixes in the drawn first cricket Test by the wicket-keeper batsman.

"When he hit me for those sixes, Lara came down to me and asked me to bowl outside the leg-stump. He still hit me for one. He is a positive guy, just like me. That's why I guess the whole of India loves him," Dave said.

The left-arm chinaman, who was at the receiving end however, wondered how the television cameras did not capture his controversial dismissal.

"When that drama on his dismissal was being played, I only kept thinking one thing: how come the television camera could capture all his sixes but not when he has been dismissed!" he said.

Dave, who was hit for six sixes in that traumatic hour by Dhoni, might have consoled himeself after the onslaught but he is surely thirsting for a revenge.

"I consoled myself with the fact that even the great Muthiah Muralitharan has been hit for 99 runs in his 10 overs once.

(But) If he was not a 'keeper and (was) a bowler, I would hit him for 10 sixes back. I am looking for revenge," said Dave, who stamped his presence in the first Test with a fighting innings of 52 on the last day which saved the day for his team.

Dave's rearguard act with the bat just 24 hours after the beating from Dhoni was a proof that Dave had handled it well.

"When I am hit for those sixes, I go back to pavilion, be myself, take a shower, I laugh. Next time, it would not be like that. I now know the kind of player Dhoni is. When he comes out to bat next time, he would see a different me," he said.

He does not just talk tough, Dave is one because he has seen the downside of life.

"We were six boys and four girls and my mom brought us through. Nothing comes easy in life, I learnt it early. My grandma used to tell me 'burn to learn'. She is dead and gone but her words are with me," he said.

This side of his personality was reflected when he took on Virender Sehwag and Anil Kumble in his enterprising half century.

While normally a batsman in that situation would be looking to play defensively, Dave tried to take the attack into the Indian camp.

"I went there with a plan. It was to attack the Indian bowling because they were expecting the batsmen to bog down. It was a mind game," he said.

"First ball Sehwag bowled at me, he actually hit me on my toes. I was bruised. He tried to outfox me but I went for him," he said.

"My philosophy is, I must get to you before you get to me," he said.

This philosophy did not deter him even against Kumble his idol.

"I don't like spinners. I like to beat them up. Having played a Test against South Africa, one against England and now against India, I have only grown up watching these men on television. I have seen how they bowl, their line, on stump," he said.