India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday credited the 2-1 ODI series win over the West Indies to team effort and said bowling performance has also improved a lot as compared to the recent contest against Australia.
“If you compare the Australia series to the kind of death bowling we did today...Even if we were missing the yorkers, it was not by much. They were ending up as low full tosses and that is a big improvement for us,” he said, comparing the performance of his bowlers against the West Indies with the seven-ODI series against Australia, which India won 3-2.
“Also in the middle overs, the two spinners and Raina, is a big positive,” Dhoni said after India’s win.
On his batsmen’s consistent performance, Dhoni said, “Rohit (Sharma) and Skikhar (Dhawan) gave a very good start, Virat has been as consistent as ever, and we have finished well with the lower order.”
Dhoni was all praise of his bowlers for restricting West Indies to a gettable target on a Green Park tract, which was more conducive to batting than expected. “Once you win the toss and field, it is important to restrict the opponents. We bowled well, but were unlucky, some edges did not carry, there were lots of play-and-misses. 280 becomes quite a big score. I felt it was not a normal Kanpur wicket, it was much better to bat on. That is why 260 seemed just below a par score.”
Man of the Match, Shikhar Dhawan, who hit 119 on Wednesday, said he was comfortable with the tract as he played on such kind of wickets in Delhi.
“We usually play on these kind of tracks in Delhi and I am used to playing on them. I knew there would not be much bounce and the drives were on. Happy with my form, the team is doing great,” he said.
Man-of-the-Series Virat Kohli said the series win augured well for the team but the real test would be South Africa. “We have scored a lot of runs...All the batsmen and that is why we are ODI number one side now. But the real challenge will begin with the South Africa tour. It’s a challenge but this team likes challenges. I think we are good enough to stand up to it and we won’t disappoint our fans,” said Kohli.