In crisis, we didn't panic: Dhoni
If his bowlers floundered, his batsmen — including himself — flourished. In the end, MS Dhoni was a happy man; happy in the knowledge that his batsmen delivered when they could have easily lost the plot. Like his bowlers.
"We needed a good partnership at the start of the innings. We knew if we don't give early wickets to Sri Lankan bowlers, it will be very difficult for them to get 10 wickets. That's what really happened. There was no question of panic," Dhoni said in the post-match presser.
The match produced a mammoth 1,598 runs over five days at the cost of only 21 wickets. Not surprisingly, it petered out to a draw.
"The wicket was quite flat. I wouldn't say it was the flattest wicket I have seen but I think it was on the slower side to the spinners, it wasn't of much help to them," Dhoni said.
The skipper was reminded that his bowlers bled profusely on the flat track of Motera though the opposition managed to take double the wickets — 14. In fact, Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra conceded a staggering 392 runs between them in Sri Lanka’s second innings, claiming just three wickets.
"I am satisfied with our spinners. If you see, (Muttiah) Muralitharan was in the opposition side. He is the greatest we will see and even he didn't get the bounce or turn he is known for. It was difficult for our bowlers," Dhoni defended his slow bowlers.
"It was a placid track and the Sri Lankan side really played the spinners well. Overall I am happy but we could have bowled tighter," Dhoni offered.
After defending his spinners, it was time for Dhoni to defend his senior-most player — Sachin Tendulkar.
Actually, Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara had offered to call off the match early, as a draw was eminently imminent, but the maestro decided to play on till he reached his 43rd century.
"If you are so close to a milestone any batsman has a right to achieve it,” Dhoni defended.
About Gautam Gambhir's ambitious shot, Dhoni said usually the left-hander uses his feet well to the spinners but it did not succeed today.
"He bats that way, uses his feel well. It's one of his shots, just that it didn't pay well this time," Dhoni said.
His bowlers may have had to toil but Dhoni was happy that they are now ready to bowl long spells.
"We bowled 200-odd overs. I don't expect the same to happen in Kanpur. There have been quite a few positives. The faster bowlers bowled really well, bowled in the right areas. Zaheer has been the mainstay, whether it is the ODIs or the Test format. He brings in controlled aggression on the field. Even on the flattest of tracks, he looks to take wickets. He gives his best, bowls long spells. So it is always good to have a bowler like him in the side," he said.
On Ishant Sharma, Dhoni said, "Ishant looked in a good rhythm and later on as he bowled more overs he was consistent with his line and length. We were not able to get reverse swing going, which would have put more pressure on batsmen."
Though there was one thing that bothered Dhoni — excessive no balls.
"No-balls were one of the reasons we were not getting wickets. Fast bowlers were exerting a bit more, trying to bowl a fraction quicker and that's why the no balls. It shouldn't happen in a Test on a track like this. If you get a wicket off a no-ball, the only one you can blame is yourself because on this wicket to get a batsman out requires loads of effort. You expect them not to bowl no-balls.”
