Gautam Gambhir’s match-saving 137 in the second Test against New Zealand on Monday earned him rich accolades from stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag who likened the belligerent left-hander to Rahul Dravid and dubbed him the “second wall” of Indian cricket.

Otherwise an aggressive batsman, Gambhir batted for nearly 11 hours over three days to bail India out after the visitors were made to follow on in the match.

Sehwag said Gambhir has proved that he has developed his game and was capable of saving matches like Dravid, who has earned the reputation of being ‘The Wall’ for his unconquerable defence and patience.

“He (Gambhir) is developing his game. He curbed his aggression and is learning with experience. He has become the second wall of Indian cricket,” Sehwag, who stood in for injured MS Dhoni in the match, said after India forced a draw.

“We didn’t bat well in the first innings but we did well in the second, especially Gautam and (VVS) Laxman. Gautam batted for nearly 11 hours and saved the match,” Sehwag added.

Sehwag admitted his bowlers had to toil hard in New Zealand’s first innings as the track did not give any assistance to them.

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India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who skipped the second Test against New Zealand with a back injury, will undergo a fitness Test on Wednesday to assess his chances of playing the third and final match in Wellington.

Virender Sehwag, who led the team in Dhoni’s absence, could not confirm Dhoni’s participation in the final Test starting on Friday.

Dhoni took part in the team practice ahead of the second Test before pulling out due to the injury and Sehwag, though tipped off the previous night, was asked to lead the side barely hours before the toss took place. Sehwag was in fact wearing Dhoni’s blazer when he went out for the toss of coin.

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“There is no Knight Riders without Dada”, asserted team owner Shah Rukh Khan while rubbishing speculation that Sourav Ganguly was being sidelined by coach John Buchanan’s idea to have multiple captains for the Indian Premier League second season.

Shah Rukh said the team’s decision to have multiple captains was in no way meant to sideline the team’s icon player Ganguly, who has hardly minced words in ridiculing the concept.

According to the idea put forth by Buchanan, Ganguly will have to share the captaincy with three others — New Zealand Brendon McCullum, West Indies’ Chris Gayle and Laxmi Ratan Shukla.

“We are a team and no decision is taken by one person. Twenty20 is a new format and new things are being tried. Too much has been said, we are not having four captains in one match. It’s going to be one captain in one match,” he said. “But in case something goes wrong, we need to have a back-up,” he added.

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