Dhoni aims for England whitewash

Dhoni aims for England whitewash 5-0

 

India skipper MS Dhoni has promised Indian fans that his team would try to end the ODI series on a high but the main motivation would be to play good cricket.

 

"We will try, but in cricket we can't commit anything. We will try to go for 5-0. If we play good cricket, things will go our way but again the important thing is to do our best," said Dhoni after his team took a 4-0 lead.

R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja took three and two wickets each to help India dismiss England for a modest total of 220 and Dhoni was all praise for the way the two spinners bowled at the Wandheke stadium.

"Spinners have done a very good job in the series. In the first over, Ashwin was expensive, but after that he bowled brilliantly. He got a bit of spin. He has got a few variations. Not to forget he bowled three overs in the first Power Play and close to three in the second. Overall he did a very good job," he said.

"The same (is the case) with Jadeja. We all know if it starts turning he's a difficult bowler (for the batsmen) to handle. It showed in this game," he added.

Dhoni was also happy with the way debutant pacer Varun Aaron bowled after a first three-over spell.

"He went for a few runs in the first few overs. I brought him back when the ball was older and he could get a bit of reverse swing going. Umesh had more experience and that's why he was preferred to Aaron.

"He bowled a bit quicker than some of the other Indians. He was consistently around the 140 mark. It's good to see some of the younger fast bowlers coming in and putting in a bit of effort and bowling at more than 135 km per hour. They know the conditions well," he said.

"But they need to improve themselves especially if they want to do well in overseas conditions when there's no reverse swing. It's good to have them we have to manage them well so that they don't get injured," Dhoni added.

Dhoni was also quite pleased with the fielding exhibition of his team throughout the rubber.

"We have fielded very well in this series. In Hyderabad under the heat we did not field well, but overall we have fielded better than them," he said.

Sparks flew a bit during India's runchase but Dhoni said overall the game was played in a good sporting spirit.

"A bit of chit chat is fine. I don't mind that. It makes cricket interesting till it does not become personal. I think the bowlers should not abuse the batsmen and vice versa. Overall the game was good (from this aspect)," he said.

He revealed that England pacer Steve Finn, who took three out of the four Indian wickets that fell Sunday, had apologised to Virat Kohli who remained unbeaten with 86, for showing frustration on the field.

"Steve Finn did a good job. He came and apologised to Virat Kohli. He said he did not abuse but was only frustrated as he had gone for some runs," he said.

Dhoni was non committal on the new ODI format of two new balls and new power play rules.

"It's too early to comment after 4-5 games. We have to play more and see (2 new balls). We are quite happy with the way we have handled Power Plays in the series," he said.

Dhoni also said the World Cup triumph at this ground had not crossed the team's mind when they came to the field this afternoon.

"(Winning) World Cup is always special. What we achieved on the 2nd of April we will remember all our lives. But you have to switch off and on. When we went out to practice the World Cup was not in our mind," he said.