Dhoni credits bowlers for win

M.S. Dhoni said that the first Test, despite finishing in four days, was a difficult game.

“There was nothing much for the bowlers in the pitch and there was nothing for the batsmen.

“If you see the runs scored, the batsmen have played a lot more deliveries to get their runs.

“If you see the scorecard, you might think ‘the match got over in four days', but it was a difficult game,” the Indian skipper said.

The captain was happy with the way his young bowling attack shaped up through the contest. “Pragyan Ojha bowled well in the first innings. In the second innings, R. Ashwin did well. He did not get a lot out of the wicket, but it was his variations that helped him. He was flighting the ball nicely and then he has the carrom-ball and the top-spinner.

“Umesh Yadav kept improving through the match. Of course, he bowls a fraction short, but that will get better as he plays more and more Tests,” Dhoni said.

The Indian skipper felt that conceding the first innings lead indicated a few short-comings. “If we had got the first innings lead, then I would have thought it was a perfect way to start the series. We lacked a few things when we batted first, but there was nothing really that we can pin-point about,” Dhoni said, while admitting it was not an easy pitch to bat on and added that his middle-order played well in the second innings.

Dhoni's counterpart Darren Sammy said his team dished out a good display though its second innings batting marred the overall performance.

“We knew how difficult it is to beat India at home, but we believed in ourselves and played some good cricket.

“If we had scored more in the second innings, then it would have been a different ball game. V.V.S. Laxman batted well with Sachin Tendulkar and took the game away from us,” the West Indies captain said.

Speaking about Tendulkar's dismissal, Sammy said, “When he turned down the single off Devendra Bishoo, I told the bowler ‘let's try to go round the wicket and force him to sweep off the rough.'

“But Bishoo said ‘give him two more balls (from over the wicket)' and he got him out!

“The way they were batting, Sachin really wanted to get the hundred. I would love him to get 100 hundreds, but I prefer to watch India against Australia, sitting on my couch and cheering for Sachin.”

Keywords: West Indies tour of India, M.S. Dhoni