UNDER PRESSURE
The captain of the Indian Cricket team, MS Dhoni, has admitted that his team was under pressure while chasing down the target of 133 runs in the fourth innings in the Mohali test match.
India eventually managed to pull off the win with 15 balls still to be bowled.
It was Dhoni himself who secured India’s victory by hitting three back to back fours.
Talking to the reporters in the post match press conference, Dhoni said, “We were one batsman short and our lower order batsmen were not in the best of forms. So, we were definitely a bit pressurized while chasing down that total.”
“It got very tight towards the end. I didn’t want to take any risk. So, I played out a few overs cautiously.”
“It was a great performance by the spinners on the fifth day. The wicket was not a rank turner and not many balls were turning sharply. It was important to bowl accurately on that sort of wicket which our spinners did and thus, got wickets.”
“The inclusion of Jadeja in the test team has certainly made a lot of difference. With the ball, he has been quite outstanding in the series so far.”
“Also, we shouldn’t forget the contribution of fast bowlers in this match. Bhuvneshwar was superb with the new ball in the second innings and the three wickets that he got in the last session of the fourth day pushed Australia behind.”
When asked about the fitness of Shikhar Dhawan, Dhoni said, “He has injured his knuckles quite badly and he is not likely to get fit before the fourth test match. So, there is a good possibility that we will have a new opening pair in the fourth test match.”
The fourth test match of the series will start from 22nd of March.