Team India went down a humiliating 4-0 loss against the mighty England side in England. It was not a surprise the way England played, but the way India went down without a fight, was the more baffling part. India really was struggling from the start when a few players were unavailable due to injury. On top of it, the batting was a wreck. Apart from Rahul Dravid, no one really could make much out of the England bowling attack. Harbhajan Singh was most disappointing as his counterpart, in the England team, Graeme Swan was getting turn and bounce out of the England pitches, while he proved to be totally ineffective.
MS Dhoni needs to rethink
Even Dhoni, who really has not been known for pointing fingers, has come out and said that the whitewash was mostly because of their batsmen. He said that the batsmen never put up enough runs. Runs are important to put pressure on the opposition. He also said that there were no major partnerships in the Indian innings, like the ones which helped England put up such mammoth totals. He said that the collapse was not good but there was a situation in the last test where they thought they may be able to save the test.
Dhoni added Zaheer’s Injury was a hamstring injury which has troubled him over quite some time now. He said that pressure on people like Zaheer and Sehwag should not be made to include them back into the team. He said that he can’t comment on their injury, but that they should be rested properly and the fitness report should explain more. He went on to add that coming back from injury is also a decision that is done by the player himself, at a personal level.
The Indian skipper also touches upon the constant amount of pressure there is when one plays for the country. He said that the expectations were very high from the people back home, who want to see India win every time they go out to play. This doesn’t allow youngsters to come in and hence it takes a toll on the existing players to keep playing as many games as possible. He also mentioned that the IPL is not responsible for the poor show in England.
Dhoni went on to say that the 100th ton by the legend, Sachin Tendulkar was not a distraction for the team. He also said that neither the players in the dressing room neither Sachin, he himself is very worried about it. Everyone knows he will be scoring it one day and achieving it. He even praised the great Rahul Dravid, saying that he had always loved playing in England and loved scoring there. He was not surprised at the way he played, but it was just that the other players could not perform.
Tags: Cricket, England, India, MS Dhoni, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Team India, Test Cricket
