IANS

Melbourne, Feb 29: Australian vice-captain and wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist came out in support of Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's stumping gloves saying they are the best in the world, the media reported Friday.

Both Gilchrist and Dhoni use the same hand-stitched gloves manufactured by India's Sunrising Sportings Goods. The only difference is that Gilchrist's gloves are re-branded by the Puma logo.

"I know the gentleman that makes them (gloves) and they're the best in the world, they're brilliant. Maybe in the manufacturing process - they're all hand-made and hand-stitched - so they may have just used a little bit too much leather in that area," The Age quoted Gilchrist as saying.

"I have absolutely no doubt that he (Dhoni) hasn't intentionally done that and tried to get away or pull the wool over anyone's eyes. We're spoiled for choice, we just get gear, you put it on, you train in it. So I don't think they were glaringly obvious to be different to what, say, I use or anyone else at the moment, or what is legal at the moment," he added.

Dhoni's gloves attracted attention of match referee Jeff Crowe, who noted that the webbings of his gloves were unusual and illegal.

Gilchrist added that he has match referees check his gloves about once a summer to ensure they are within the regulations and he has never had any issue. He added that the problem with Dhoni's gloves was only slight and was in no way an attempt to return to the gloves of a decade ago, which were beginning to resemble baseball mitts.

"They're nothing like what we were wearing when I first started my career, we were wearing gloves (that) were almost like a baseball mitt," he said.