The Indian captain Mahendra Singh said resting from the ODI series in the Caribbean had helped him refresh his mind and body.
Dhoni said, “Personally, the break has helped me. It’s not the first time that I have taken a break, but what you find out is that all those small injuries vanish suddenly. You have plenty of energy and you are not running on reserve battery.”
Talking about the younger members of the side adapting to Test cricket, Dhoni said,”Of course, Test cricket is said to be tougher than the other two formats. You want them to play Test cricket, gain more experience. It will help them to take the right decision when it’s needed.”
The Indian skipper added, “It’s important that we concentrate on the basics. So, we tell the youngsters the importance of doing the small things right. And it’s all about not thinking about the number of Test matches you have to play, or how many of them are outside India.”
Then, Dhoni dwelt on the importance of the bowlers to keep fit. “ I think fitness is one area that can have a real impact because Test cricket is not a short format where you need to bowl only four overs or 10 overs. In Test match, you may need to bowl 15, 16, 17 overs, and sometimes close to or over 25 overs in an innings irrespective whether of whether you are a fast bowler or a spinner.
Takling about new coach Duncan Fletcher, Dhoni said, “I think he has done really well so far with the young side he had for the ODIs. Of course, we all miss Gary (Kirsten) but again every individual is different, so we shouldn’t be really looking to compare, as their ways will be different.”
Dhoni felt the West Indies possessed a good pace attack. “They have bowlers who can bowl fast, and if they can bowl in the right areas, they can cause problems for the batsmen. That’s what Test cricket is all about, you have to negotiate good bowlers and balls. And as a batsman you need to push the bowlers to bowl into your zone. So it will be a good competition for our batsmen.”
He was pleased with the Indian spin attack. “Bhajji (Harbhajan) of course has been the pick of the bowlers.. Amit Mishra had a wonderful ODI series and Ojha has done well in whatever opportunities he has got.”.
Dwelling on the West Indies leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo, Dhoni said, “ He can turn the ball a lot and has the top spinner. So, we will look to put pressure on him so that he bowls some loose balls.
But I think the wicket here will be different from the first three one-dayers where the ball turned a lot.”
Although he was disappointed about missing the ODI series, fast bowler Fidel Edwards said he was looking forward to the Test series. He added that he had recovered well from his fitness concerns.
Edwards felt the Indian batsmen were improving against short-pitched bowling from the quicks. “In the past, they have got into difficulties against such a mode of attack but over the last one year, if you watch the videos, they have fared better against the short-pitched bowling.”
The Caribbean paceman expected the surface at Sabina Park to favour fast bowlers.
