Though some Indians may dub the recent one-day series win of India against England a revenge, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni seems to differ, making him the great captain he is. India won its third one day international against England at Mohali and thus clinched the five match series with a 3-0 lead. Dhoni also gave credit to his batsmen who were successful in chasing the formidable total of 298 runs. Set a target of 299 runs to win by England, team India was able to surpass the total and scored 300 runs with four balls to spare and five wickets in hand. After the match Dhoni said, “Revenge is a very harsh word in a game. I don’t think we should resort to using such words in cricket. On the one hand we talk about sportsman spirit and on the other hand we talk about revenge. Is it right?” he asked.
Dhoni also complimented the young brigade in his team who were in as substitutes for senior players who had to be rested due to injuries. He said, “As far as the one day format is considered I am quite happy with my team’s performance. We had scored plenty of runs in England, but since we couldnot win the toss there, we had to bowl first. On many occasions our efforts were wasted due to rain and dew. Here in India the climate is favourable to us. Our bowlers too have bowled well here in familiar conditions. This is good for us.”
He added, “I will keep promoting the young batsmen up the order as long as they deliver and are well established. I have always felt
that the young players should be played up the order. It is always better to keep our youngsters prepared. These youngsters have to be at the crease atleast till 20 overs. When they become a part of the regular team, we will be in a position to experiment with them.
Batting at number six or seven is a different ball game altogether. Don’t forget that the youngsters who were promoted up the order have delivered. When some youngster is not available due to injury we have to look for replacements. Our upper middle order played an important role in delivering us the last win.”
Dhoni was profuse in his praise for Gautam Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane. He said, “The way Rahane (91) and Gambhir (58) scored 111 runs for the second wicket, they took the game away from England. Their partnership was quite crucial for us. The dew played an important role once again and the ball was coming on to the bat very well. We lost a wicket at a crucial time, but were able to come back into the game because of this partnership and were able to register a win.”
Dhoni added, “If we had lost one more wicket, the match could have slipped away from us. Thursday’s game was close and it went into the last over. We should have won this match easily but it turned out to be an encounter of a close kind. Losing a wicket in between, put some pressure on us. I knew that Ravindra Jadeja was with me and together we could eclipse the total. Because of the dew the bowlers found it difficult to york or reverse-swing the ball.”
Dhoni gave indications to the effect that since the series was ours we could now try our second-rung cricketers in the next two matches. He said, “We haven’t yet planned about the next two games. The team management will sit together and discuss the issue. Pacer Umesh Yadav is out due to injury and hence another bowler may be tried.”
Dhoni also complimented the young brigade in his team who were in as substitutes for senior players who had to be rested due to injuries. He said, “As far as the one day format is considered I am quite happy with my team’s performance. We had scored plenty of runs in England, but since we couldnot win the toss there, we had to bowl first. On many occasions our efforts were wasted due to rain and dew. Here in India the climate is favourable to us. Our bowlers too have bowled well here in familiar conditions. This is good for us.”
He added, “I will keep promoting the young batsmen up the order as long as they deliver and are well established. I have always felt
that the young players should be played up the order. It is always better to keep our youngsters prepared. These youngsters have to be at the crease atleast till 20 overs. When they become a part of the regular team, we will be in a position to experiment with them.
Batting at number six or seven is a different ball game altogether. Don’t forget that the youngsters who were promoted up the order have delivered. When some youngster is not available due to injury we have to look for replacements. Our upper middle order played an important role in delivering us the last win.”
Dhoni was profuse in his praise for Gautam Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane. He said, “The way Rahane (91) and Gambhir (58) scored 111 runs for the second wicket, they took the game away from England. Their partnership was quite crucial for us. The dew played an important role once again and the ball was coming on to the bat very well. We lost a wicket at a crucial time, but were able to come back into the game because of this partnership and were able to register a win.”
Dhoni added, “If we had lost one more wicket, the match could have slipped away from us. Thursday’s game was close and it went into the last over. We should have won this match easily but it turned out to be an encounter of a close kind. Losing a wicket in between, put some pressure on us. I knew that Ravindra Jadeja was with me and together we could eclipse the total. Because of the dew the bowlers found it difficult to york or reverse-swing the ball.”
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