MSD applauds bowlers’ show

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Bengaluru, Oct. 13: Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni may have had a torrid time with the toss, having lost nine in a row, but his team has been on a roll.

On Wednesday, soon after India registered a memorable win over their opponents from Down Under, Dhoni seemed pleased with his bowlers’ show and credited them for the series victory. While V.V.S. Laxman’s heroics in the Mohali Test and Sachin Tendulkar’s double century did play a crucial role in deciding the outcome of the series, Dhoni said it was the bowlers who had set up the foundation for the victory.

“Batting has always been our strength, but it is the bowlers who have impressed me more in this series,” said Dhoni, who has a 100 per cent win record against the Aussies, having won all the four Tests he has captained so far.

“By losing the toss so often, I am not helping them out. Especially considering the conditions in the sub-continent, we had to bowl first more often that not. In the first innings there’s usually no swing. So they (the bowlers) have to look for alternatives to get the batsmen out and they have been excellent in the series,” he said.

Dhoni, however, was worried about the lack of depth in the bowling department and said he would like to have more bench strength. “We would like to have more reserves especially in the bowling ranks, maybe have 4 or 5 more pacers. We have three very good spinners now but would like to have more when the seniors are not available,” Dhoni said.

The Indian skipper’s move to promote debutant Pujara ahead of Rahul Dravid while chasing a modest target of 207, paid rich dividends. The debutant scored a well-crafted 72 as batting maestro Tendulkar added the finishing touches to the contest.

“One of the reasons to send Pujara was to have more experience in the middle-order, which you really need when you are chasing a low target like this. So, we sent Cheteshwar up the order thinking that the move may surprise the opposition,” said the victorious skipper.

“Cheteshwar is the kind of player who will play strokes if it (the ball) is in his area and I thought if the Australians attack him, which they did, then he will have more opportunities to score runs. I think he batted really well. Rather than taking it as a pressure situation, he took it as an opportunity,” Dhoni said.

While the skipper was happy with the series win, he didn’t think it was among India’s best. “It is very much easier to do it in a two-match Test series but is quite difficult to do it in three or five-match encounters. I am very fortunate to have a side that has performed very well in the past one-and-half years. They have done well in difficult circumstances and have given us many memorable victories,” Dhoni said.