Sunday, September 18, 2011
MS Dhoni says : The nightmarish tour has ended and irrespective of whatever good we have done, we haven't been able to win a single game. I don't remember when was it last when India received this kind of drubbing in an entire series, maybe in the 50's we did, but then we weren’t the number one team and a good result then expected from us was a draw.
Overall we saw a mixed performance from the team. We did play poorly in the Tests but I am not really very much disappointed with the One-Day performances. Test cricket is my concern here, and honestly we didn't have a team to go 4-0 down. The youngsters coming in have struggled in this format and even after being in the twilight of their careers; the team’s reliance completely rests on the likes of Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman. I believe it’s time we should look ahead to build our Test team for future, even if it means us costing a few series.
Injury played huge part in England debacle
The bowling has been a weak area and with Zaheer Khan out, the bowling has lacked consistency and unless you possess an attack capable of consistently picking up 20 wickets in Tests, you can’t be a great side irrespective of the rankings. Even in the limited over versions, it was the bowling, which let us down often. We have our next few matches in India and the bowling will fall in place with spinners having the final say.
We saw Jadeja and Ashwin bowl well in Oval where there was some assistance for the spinners. Though spin bowling is our strength we can't always depend on them especially on a tour like this. That is why it was necessary for someone like Varun Aaron, who has bowled all his life in placid tracks to get at least one game in the tour and be exposed to these conditions. On the other hand, the English were quite happy to try their bench and the likes of Samit Patel, Steve Finn and Jonny Bairstow, didn’t disappoint.
I have always felt that despite of being so successful Dhoni has been a very defensive captain, maintaining a safety first approach. When the team is doing well it doesn't matter but when the results are not on your side, things begin to look ugly. Injuries added to Dhoni's woes but at the same time we should learn to win without the stars. The Australians have begun to do well in foreign conditions without their stars.
All said and done, it was the English team who weren't the favorites to start with, but they believed in themselves and played better and won it deservingly. Coming to the positives, I am impressed with how the batting came up in the ODIs and with the likes of Tendulkar, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Gambhir, Zaheer and Harbhajan coming back, we have got the resources and there isn't much to worry in this format. Parthiv, though inconsistent looked very positive, so did Rahane give a couple of good starts, Jadeja did well in his comeback, Ashwin bowled well in patches, Raina was brutal, Kohli struck a brilliant hundred and Dhoni found his lethal batting form and deservingly won the player of the series.
But to me the players for the tour were Rahul Dravid and Praveen Kumar. Praveen in his first tour of England shouldered the entire bowling responsibility and took a lot of load. Indians owe him a lot in the bowling department. Praveen's maturity with the ball didn’t give one the impression that he had just made his Test debut a few days back in West Indies.
A Salute To Rahul Dravid
While we bid Dravid, a goodbye from the limited overs format, we would all like to thank him for all that he has given to the game. In the Tests, he was brilliant and even in his last ODI innings, he proved that he is still amongst the best. Dravid hadn't been a regular ODI player since 2007 and the biggest positive to many of the young players in this Indian ODI outfit was the opportunity to share the dressing room with one of the greatest of the game and this sort of exposure will certainly benefit them immensely.
