Not always India are known for its strength in the bowling department, but time has changed as the Men in Blue head to the Caribbean with a great bunch of bowlers, feels India’s ODI and T20 captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
With the four-match Test series against West Indies starting on Thursday, Captain Cool feels the best thing about the current Indian bowling unit is having a pool of 8-10 bowlers fit and available for selection.
“Good thing about India bowling line-up is that we have a pool of bowlers — basically 8-10 bowlers — all of them are fit and pushing for selection. That’s a great thing about it — the better the competition among themselves the better the result will be,” said Dhoni after being announced as the global brand ambassador of Secured Venture Capital, an Australian venture capital firm led by renowned former Australian cricketer Craig McDermott.
“The bowling line-up is looking great. We have whatever that it is required. If you want somebody to swing the ball we have it, if we want somebody quick, we have it. It will give the management the liberty to pick the best bowlers for whatever that are needed in that scenario,” he added.
The 2011 ODI World Cup winning captain also feels that the spinners have an important role to play in the Caribbean.
“Over the years, the West Indies wickets have slowed down. Also over the period of looking at different leagues and other countries, the wickets have slightly gone to the slower side. So the spinners have a major role in the series,” he explained.
However, the wicket-keeper also had good words for the batting line-up, particularly about the middle order.
“Six batters have played Test cricket for quite some time. If you see the middle part of batting line-up, it looks very good — they have good experience of playing outside India. So I feel it will be a very good series for the Indian side,” he added.
Dhoni might have quit the Test format nearly two years ago, but the man from Ranchi still misses it. However, the keeper-batsman does not regret his decision.
“Obviously you miss playing Test cricket. But I don’t regret it. look, for cricketers it’s a passion or call it a bug that stays with you forever. It never leaves you. That’s why all these 40 and 50 plus cricketers who come back for commentary, coaching junior teams. As far as I am concerned, this gives me a chance to spend time with my family,” he explained.
Dhoni also feels that the time away from cricket has helped him plan his off-season.
“It has given me lot of time to plan my off season. I hit the gym more, do a lot of running, taking care of my body. Now, after 30, its very important to take care of the body,” he said.
“let’s not forget, in the last 10 years I have abused my body a lot. Our bodies are not supposed to do the things we do on the field. It definitely takes a toll on the body. But what is important is to try and make everything strong enough to pick it up again,” he said.