MS Dhoni says there’s isn’t much opposition captains can do to stop big-hitters like AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle once they get going.

India captain Dhoni told cricketcountry.com bowlers and captains are pretty much helpless when the likes of De Villiers, Gayle and New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum start clearing the boundary.

‘Frankly speaking, you can’t do much because if the individual is hitting sixes you can’t have fields for it,’ said Dhoni.

India were fortunate to run out De Villiers before he could get going when South Africa faced India earlier in the World Cup pool stages.

‘More often than not, you’ll lose the battle of short-pitched deliveries, if they hit you off the short-pitch stuff also. There’s not much you can do,’ Dhoni observed when queried about impact players.

He said the best thing bowlers could try and do was to trick the batsmen with variation.

‘You look to bluff the batsman a bit. I believe that gives liberty to the bowlers to try a few other things if a batsman like Chris Gayle or AB de Villiers gets going. Apart from that, you don’t have a fixed plan as to if you do this, this will happen,’ said Dhoni.

According to him, teams need to take the half chances that the big hitters sometimes offer.

‘That’s where I feel the bowler will have to take that extra initiative and they have to be backed well by the fielders because if you have a 50/50 opportunity and if you grab that, it will really ease up the pressure from the fast bowlers or the spinners. I think as a unit you have to hunt in a pack.’