Nagpur: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni blamed the team’s batting performance for the series loss against England. The fourth and the final Test at Nagpur ended in a draw and England won the series 2-1.
India won the first Test at Ahmedabad, but then lost two consecutive Tests at Mumbai and Kolkata to take the winning lead.
“England were the better team and deserved to win the series. We struggled in the batting department but their spinners were right on the mark. I think James Anderson was the main difference between the two teams,” Dhoni said.
On the Nagpur pitch he said, “If you got your head down it was hard to take wickets. I think it got better, coming on to the bat and easier to play strokes. It was hard to bat on in the final session of day three and early in day four but got better after that.”
On the positives that the team can take out from the series, Dhoni said, “We tried a few combinations that didn’t really work, we had some part-timers but we needed someone like Jadeja to keep the lid on the batsmen. Pujara’s batting was a positive and Gambhir got back in the runs. We can take a lot of positives from the series.”
James Anderson who was adjudged the man of the match for his tremendous spell of bowling said, “People come over here and think the spinners are going to get all the wickets but I wanted to show seamers have a job to do as well.”
“Reverse swing played a key part and we executed our plans well. The beauty of bowling short spells means you can give it your all and then get a rest. It’s been amazing,” Anderson added.
Alastair Cook who was brilliant throughout the series and won the man of the series award said that it was a special day and a special tour for the team.
“After Ahmedabad, the heavy defeat, it’s been a fantastic response. In my first series as captain, I couldn’t have asked for more, it’s a very proud moment. Our bowlers have been brilliant and all the batsmen contributed. It’s always nice when it goes well, can’t praise the team and the squad enough,” Cook said.
By Indian Sports News Network
Tags:
alastair cook
james anderson
mahendra singh dhoni
Share Your Views:
Comments
Facebook
Download SocComments v1.3
