We can keep three or four slips but the wicket should really support that: MS Dhoni

 Sports
Dec 172012
 

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni praised England fast bowler James Anderson and said that he was the major difference between the two sides. Dhoni in the post match press conference said that Anderson’s ability to get reverse swing from the old ball made him very dangerous and he played a crucial role in his team’s series winning performance.

“He was at the batsmen all the time, specially the second and third spells of his where the ball had started to reverse and still was slightly on the harder side. He made the most out of that spell and kept the batsmen guessing. I think the major difference between the two sides was James Anderson who bowled very well,” Dhoni said.

Dhoni said that England were the better team and deserved to win. He also said that their team was very well balanced.  “If you see their side, they are a very well balanced side. The two spinners they have got,  Monty is a very good spinner and Graeme Swann is among the best in the world.” 

Dhoni said that there were a few positives that the team can take out from this loss. There were a few positives and a few places where we lost out. That’s the reason we lost the series,” he said.

On the pitches that he got in the series Dhoni said, “The wicket at Mumbai was a very good wicket. Good bounce and turn was there for the spinners.”

On the Nagpur pitch he said, “I felt the wicket improved as we went into the fifth day. How many on-drives did we see on the first day, but today there were five to nine on-drives against the spin which means the grass grew and it made the track better paced for batsmen to play their strokes.”

On the defensive field that India put on the fourth and the fifth day, Dhoni said, “We bowled for ten hours and got three batsmen out; you have to evaluate the wicket from this. We can keep three or four slips but the wicket should really support that. Okay I did not have a silly point or a short leg for a long time but how many balls went there?”

Dhoni backed the young players in the team and said that they should be given a longer run. “You have to back youngsters who you think are very talented and can succeed at the top level even if they fail initially. Without trying them out how will you know? It’s difficult to replace Rahul Dravid or VVS Laxman or Sachin Tendulkar. What’s important is whether the youngster coming in can absorb the pressure,” he said.

On the Indian fielding, Dhoni said, “We have seen some improvement especially in this Test match where we had a few young players who we could place at points and restrict them  from taking singles and rotating the strike. Yes, a few catches were dropped, but that again is part and parcel of the game.”

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MS Dhoni blames poor batting for series defeat

 Sports
Dec 172012
 

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

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Kohli ton buoys India before England hit back

 Sports
Dec 152012
 

India 146 for 4 (Kohli 46*, Dhoni 29*, Anderson 3-31) trail England 330 by 184 runsLive scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Virat Kohli was a study of concentration, India v England, 4th Test, Nagpur, 3rd day, December 15, 2012Virat Kohli, who has had a poor series, ground it out for India on the third morning © BCCI
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Matches: India v England at Nagpur
Series/Tournaments: England tour of India

India had the wicketless session they desperately needed on the third morning in Nagpur although it was slow progress by Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni. However, the pair had little option but to be cautious due to the combination of India’s poor overnight position, the slow pitch and accurate bowling. By lunch the deficit was still a significant 184 with the match approaching the half-way mark.

As with many players in the India team both Kohli and Dhoni are men under pressure; Kohli because of a lean series at the end of a profitable year and Dhoni because he is leading a side that is underperforming while his own returns have not been overwhelming. So it was to their credit that they resisted during the session, shelving the free-flowing scoring they are known for. It was another example, as with Joe Root, that survival is not the main issue on this surface.

The intensity of the previous evening had diluted somewhat although the England attack offered precious few scoring options during a session that yielded 59 runs in 32 overs. James Anderson, the star of the second evening, began with a four-over spell – surprisingly his only bowl of the morning – during which he found Dhoni’s outside edge through an empty slip cordon but as with so many in this match it would not have carried except to a ridiculously close catcher.

There was the occasional boundary to punctuate the dot balls. Kohli elegantly drove Tim Bresnan wide of mid-off and later picked off one that was a touch wide from Monty Panesar. There was one delivery that got England, and Graeme Swann, excited when Kohli received one which bounced and was glanced through leg slip.

Alastair Cook fiddled with his field during the session, having catchers on the drive in various positions but against batsmen intent largely on survival it was mighty tough work to make an impression. It highlighted, if that was required, the brilliance of Anderson the previous day. The new ball is due in seven overs and that should signal a push from England.