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Series win is special, says skipper Dhoni
ONE TO CHERISH: The Indian players are ecstatic after clinching their first ODI series win on New Zealand soil.
Auckland: M.S. Dhoni refuted the theory that India had handed New Zealand the momentum after the eight-wicket defeat in Saturday’s dead rubber.
“Before the one-day series, I was asked the same question because of the Twenty20 defeats,” said the Indian captain. “As I said, it’s not about what we have done. We have to start from scratch again. Nothing changes. Particularly when it comes to Test cricket, where you have to play consistent cricket over a period of time. I don’t think (the defeat) matters when it comes to the last game of a one-day series.”
Dhoni said India’s first ODI series win in New Zealand was special, but stopped short of measuring it against past successes. “I don’t believe in rating because every series is important,” he said. “Of course, it’s something special. But the things we have achieved in the past are not in consideration when you think about it right now. After a while when you sit back you realise that may be another series was more important because your team was not in form, and had to struggle harder to win,” Dhoni added.
Asked why he chose to bat in seamer-friendly conditions, Dhoni said, “We misread the wicket. We do make mistakes, but we should have negotiated the period when it was doing quite a bit. Throughout the series we have played big shots, which paid off, but this time we lost a few wickets and put ourselves under pressure.”
On Ishant Sharma’s verbal sparring with Jesse Ryder, Dhoni said, “It seems it was in the heat of the moment. But I believe they have sorted it out. It’s an ugly thing to happen on the field. But, fast bowlers, when they get hammered, sometimes react.”
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said the improvement in execution of the bowling skills had made the difference. “Today, I thought they bowled really well,” he said.
“The wicket had a little more in it than the previous ones, but you still have to bowl well. You saw that a guy like Sehwag can still be explosive. Some guys who haven’t performed in the series stepped up. Oram was outstanding and Jesse Ryder came through with the ball.”
Vettori praised Ryder’s all-round performance. “It was a big game for him and he did everything that was asked from him. He hit the right areas and got the ball to do a bit.
“When chasing a smallish total it gives the batsmen a bit of license to play their game. But I thought Jess and Martin (Guptill) played good cricket shots throughout, and many of those disappeared out of the park.”
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