Bengaluru, Oct 13: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who led India to its first ever Test series whitewash of Australia, said that he sent debutant Cheteshwar Pujara up the order to surprise the opposition and added that the latter’s innings of 72 would serve as a good learning experience for him.
At the post-match press conference, the Indian skipper applauded his teammates for their performance over the past year and a half in difficult circumstances.
Excerpts
On the reason behind sending Cheteshwar Pujara at the No. 3 position
One of the reasons was to have more experience in the middle-order. If [Rahul] Dravid, Sachin [Tendulkar] and [Suresh] Raina or [Chesteshwar] Pujara bat at Nos. 3, 4, and 5, respectively, then there wouldn’t be much experience in the lower-order which you really need when you chase a low target like this.
So we sent Cheteshwar up the order thinking maybe the opposition would be taken by surprise. He is the kind of a player who will play stokes if it is in his area and I thought if the Australians attack him, which they did, then Pujara 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.
I told him [about his promotion up the order] after the Australian innings. In fact we discussed it in the morning but the final decision was taken after the innings. He was up for it.
On winning the Test series
It was not an easy target especially after the last match where [VVS] Laxman and Ishant [Sharma] had to play a special knock to get us through. But this was a slightly slow and low track, where the spinners had to bowl at the right pace and length to get the batsmen out - so it made [the chase] slightly easier. Most of the time [your success in chasing a target] depends on the start you get. If you lose too many wickets early on it creates pressure in the dressing room. So it was important to get off to a decent start though it wasn’t a huge target and once we got a good start we knew we would reach the target.
On the clean sweep of the series
It’s easier to do it in a two-match series but difficult to do it in a three-, four- or five-match series. I am fortunate to have a side that has performed very well in the past one and a half years and I am very close to them. They have done well in difficult circumstances whether it’s the bowlers or batsmen.
On Murali Vijay
Someone like Murali Vijay doesn’t get many opportunities with [Virender] Sehwag and [Gautam] Gambhir opening the batting. But whenever he has got an opportunity, he has scored a decent amount of runs […].
In this Test, it was ideal for him and he made the most of it and broke the century barrier and continued to play a long knock. It was a good learning experience for him. I think Pujara too batted really well but was unfortunate to get out early in the first innings. But it was a good learning experience for him.
On his bowlers
The spinner and pacers have done a very good job. But at the same time we have been handicapped by injuries not just in the Tests but also in ODIs. We have not fielded a strong side consistently for a long time. At the same time, we would like to have more reserves especially in the bowling department – maybe [we need to have] four or five more fast bowlers [in the wings]. We have three very good spinners but we would like to have more when the seniors are not available.
It’s difficult for fast bowlers in India, especially in Tests. We play three Test matches against New Zealand and the wickets will not be much different so I think there is more pressure on the faster bowlers. And there are only four bowlers in a Test match and they have to work hard in these conditions, which is not easy.
On Australia’s strategy coming into the tournament
I thought they wanted to put pressure on the middle-order or lower-order as some of the players had not practiced together before the tour as they were playing in the Champions League Twenty20. And I was very impressed with the way we handled it.
On the Test series
There is a lot of hype created over the India-Australia series and I am happy [it] ended without any controversy. Overall, I am very happy with the performance. The bowlers really stepped up to the task as both the wickets were flat. [The pitch] was not turning either.
On chasing a small target on Day 5
It’s a learning curve for us, even for those who have played 50 or 60 matches because the conditions are different and [they] change constantly. It feels nice to be on the winning the side. Even though the last innings’ target was not big in both the matches, there was pressure on both the sides. If you see the scorecard of both the matches, it was a very close contest. Overall I think it was a good, short Test series.
On the upcoming ODI series
Both are top teams in the world so it should make for an interesting contest. But both the teams are not featuring their best players. Australia have rested three or four top players and we too have rested seven or eight players. At the same time, it is an opportunity for the young players and also we can have a look at the areas where we can improve.
