Dominica, July 10: Faced with the prospect of chasing down a target of 180 to take their series score to 2-0 against the West Indies, India accepted a drawn result in the Dominica Test after putting on 94 runs for the loss of three wickets. Speaking to Ian Bishop in the post-match conference, India captain MS Dhoni defended his team’s decision to give up the chase, saying a series win was not worth the risk.
Excerpts from the conversation:
On whether he was disappointed at not having won close games in Barbados and Dominica
I am not disappointed about it. I think the team did really well, especially in this game. We tried our best to get their batsmen out. But credit goes to them; they batted well. I don’t think we are disappointed in any way.
On the slow nature of the Dominica wicket
It was a very slow wicket. One good thing was that Harbhajan [Singh] was getting some spin and bounce. We relied on him quite heavily. He got us those four valuable wickets that were needed. I think it was a good performance by the bowlers. There was not much for the fast bowlers, especially after 25 or 30 overs; the ball got soft and it was not really coming on. So from the bowlers’ point of view, they did whatever they could.
On whether he would have changed his bowling attack with the benefit of hindsight
Not really, because we were not sure of the wicket. We didn’t have many games to have a look at and see how the wicket behaves. If we had gone with a 2-2 [two pacers and two spinners] combination and it turned out to be a flat track, it would have become really difficult to manoeuvre the bowlers. We knew that if it starts turning by the third or the fourth day, we have bowlers like Suresh Raina who can contribute. He got a couple of wickets which was needed. I think we are quite happy with the 3-1 combination.
On giving up on the run chase in the fourth innings
The gamble was quite high for us. We were risking a series win. We gave it a go. But then we realised that it was not worth going for it. At the right time we called it a day and said that we are happy with a series win.
On what has pleased him the most on this tour
Well, I think it was good exposure for the youngsters - somebody like an Abhimanyu Mithun who was playing after a while. Murali Vijay played well. Virat Kohli got a chance. Overall, it was good exposure for all of them, to see what international cricket is all about. For some of the bowlers, somebody like an Ishant Sharma, who has been groomed under Zaheer Khan to take over the responsibility, it’s good to see him perform really well and win the Man-of-the-Series. I think, overall, [I’m] very satisfied with the performance of all the players.
