England are a balanced side: MS Dhoni
First Published : 20 Dec 2012, 11:24
Last Modified : 20 Dec 2012, 11:24
Ahead of the first of the two T20Is against England, the Indian team trained has been training hard trying to put the Test series loss behind them. The duel between the two sides at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium here on December 20 will be the first international game to be hosted at the stadium.
With a different format, the Indian team will be looking to turn around their fortunes against the Eoin Morgan-led visiting side. While speaking to the media, the Indian skipper said, "We have won a few games and lost a few against England. In this format, it’s just about a couple of players really changing the game. It’s about enjoying the game, just getting that one run or making that one run-out, which changes the game. I don’t think it’s proper to analyse the patterns in this format.”
Looking forward to the forthcoming matches and reiterating the importance of staying in the present, Dhoni added, "It’s a completely different format, so I don’t think there’s any point carrying anything from the Test series. It’s a very different format altogether.”
Reflecting on the outcomes of the Test series, he said, "It was disappointing that we did not win the series and also after a long period at home. But in the last Test match [at Nagpur] we did pretty well. Still there were plenty of positives [from the series].”
"Youngsters like Cheteshwar Pujara, who I think is the future for us along with Virat Kohli, did well. You saw the bowlers did well, especially the spinners, when there was not much assistance from the wicket,” Dhoni added.
Speaking about young Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who received a call-up to the side based on his impressive performance in domestic cricket, he said, "He’s someone who has done well in the domestic circuit this season. He needs to come out here and enjoy himself and get a feel of what international cricket is all about.”
Speaking about the opposition, Dhoni said, "England are a balanced side, irrespective of the format.”
“It [conditions] may be slightly different this time of the year with a bit of dew, which may mean the spinners may not be that effective, but these are all speculations."
On the stadium, the Indian captain said, "The stadium is fantastic with excellent facilities. A fair amount of cricket has been going on and the wicket must have settled down. It will be a good track for the batsmen to score runs. [It is] not a big outfield, and the big shots will come into contention.
"The last time we played here in IPL there was variable bounce. If the wicket has settled, that shouldn’t be the case," Dhoni said
