The Hindu : Sport : Dhoni praises young players

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Dhoni praises young players

Special Correspondent

Brisbane: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni attributed the tri-series triumph to great spirit within the side. “The manner the boys have responded to the challenge has been great. Much for a captain depends on how the players react. The captain accumulates the pressure and just transfers it to his players to deliver the goods.”

He lauded the young cricketers in the side. “Even if we had lost the tourney, most players of this lot would continue to serve Indian cricket for a long time. This will be the core and whoever will be in the best of form will make the team.”

Dhoni said the challenge before India would be to be consistent. He thanked the support staff including physio John Gloster and trainer Gregory King for whom it was the last tournament with India.

“I’ve done nothing, it’s the 17 players and the support staff. I take this opportunity to thank Gloster and King as well.

“They were part of the team and we will miss them but cricket goes on… We enjoyed our period with them.”

Chawla’s inclusion

He said Piyush Chawla’s inclusion for the finals was to surprise the opposition. “Chawla was a part of the plan even for the last league game of the meet but we chose to keep him as a surprise. He’s short and flights the ball very well, has the variety.”

On the controversies in the summer down under, he said, “After a while you get used to it. Every day you open the newspapers, you see something. The next few days I will surely check the net to see what goes on in the Aussie media, surely there will be plenty back home. Amid the controversies it was forgotten that we played some good cricket.”

About giving the ball to Irfan Pathan, Dhoni said, “He was not at his best but did well during the series. He’s sincere and involved and they needed 13 runs in the last over. I had confidence in Pathan.”

Speaking about Harbhajan Singh, he said, “He may look rash but you need to respect an individual, he didn’t cross the line and nothing was proved against him.”

He called Sachin Tendulkar, “the best in the world.”

Ponting’s poor form

Ricky Ponting was hard on himself even while blaming Australia’s batting performance. “When you bat at No. 3, you need to take responsibility. I have not done that and I am as guilty as anyone else.” He conceded, “My form has been awful.”

The Australian captain said the dismissal of Andrew Symonds was the turning point. “I felt we could be a wicket short in the end, it happened that way. James (Hopes) did a great job with a sensible innings, but I always felt we were behind.”

The Australian captain said it was disappointing to lose second successive ODI tri-series finals in-a-row; the Aussies lost 2-0 to England last season. “We dominated the league stages but came up short in the finals. It is not a nice way to finish the season.”

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