Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has once again reiterated that he will not deviate from his strategy of playing five bowlers ahead of the fifth and final cricket Test against England starting on Friday.
With hero of the Lord’s Test match Ishant Sharma already declared fit, the India captain has decided to stick to his five-bowler theory which incidentally didn’t work in the last Test match at the Old Trafford.
“Yes we will be playing five bowlers,” Dhoni declared on the eve of the Test as India look to avoid another overseas series-loss having already conceded a 2-1 lead in Manchester.
The skipper outlined that Bhuvneshwar Kumar is experiencing some niggling issues but is expected to be fit in time for the start of the match.
“He has managed the workload quite well so far. He has a few niggles here and there but at the most he is always close to 80 per cent fit. We shouldn’t forget the amount of bowling he has done, and also the batting and fielding. So it is good that he is shaping up well. But he is also someone who we cannot afford to rest at this point in the series,” Dhoni said at the pre-match press conference on Thursday.
As has been the case, Dhoni again harped about how the “process” was more important than the “result“.
“This match is very important but the process is still more important than the result, because it puts less pressure on the team. It is an important Test but at the same time, it is still about breaking up of the sessions. If you win more sessions than the opposition, then the result should come out in your favour,” Dhoni explained.
