Happy with the bowlers’ show, says Dhoni |
| OUR CORRESPONDENT |
| Nagpur: Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted at the news conference, after stumps Saturday, that he would have been happy had India bagged two more wickets on Day I. But, at the same time, he defended his bowlers saying the wicket hadn’t been of much support to them. The following are excerpts The wicket It is on the slower side. There was some turn, especially for (Amit) Mishra. But it was certainly not ripping off the track. It will be important to maintain a disciplined line. However, they batted quite well… It was an excellent first day track to bat on. Overall, I would have been happier if we could have taken two more wickets. The decision to play Wriddhiman Saha as a specialist batsman After Rohit (Sharma) got injured, we had to weigh our options for the best possible solution. I think it is better to back a youngster who is 100 per cent fit than risk a 60-70 per cent fit V.V.S. Laxman. That’s why we went for Saha. The spinners’ performance Both (Jacques) Kallis and (Hashim) Amla play spinners well… Our bowlers beat them on quite a few occasions, but were not lucky to get an edge. The pitch is not a square turner, so I’m happy with the bowlers’ performance. Whether India had been a bit defensive Kallis went after Harbhajan (Singh) in a particular over and there wasn’t much for the spinners to do. We tried to unsettle them by having fielders in catching positions and tried a few innovations… But we just couldn’t get through. You do need a semi-defensive approach in such a scenario to stop the boundaries. On the use of the part-timers Virender Sehwag did bowl a few overs today and he may have to bowl a few more tomorrow. Unfortunately, there is no other part-time bowler in the XI. We will see how the first session goes. And, yes, the pressure will be on the bowlers tomorrow. On the approach on Sunday Every session will be crucial tomorrow. The important thing will be to contain them… Did you even for once think of handing the wicket-keeping gloves to Wriddhiman Saha to play specialist bat yourself No… not really. |