The series defeat against England has only increased the pressure on MS Dhoni. If former selector Mohinder Amarnath revealed before the Nagpur Test that he was saved from being axed by the board chiefs, he has now lost another major series — the third since last summer.
It remains to be seen whether he manages to retain his job. But the man described as ‘Captain Cool’, however, defended his tactics that have often been termed as too defensive.Hitting back
"What's important is to see that we bowled for 10 hours and got three batsmen out, so you have got to evaluate everything as to how the wicket was and what can be done," he
said after the Test ended.
Dhoni took a dig at former players for saying that he did not have attacking field placements. "What happens in games like that is that it is very easy to sit out and say we need a fielder here, we need a fielder there. But if you see the wicket, it was improving as we went into the fifth day.
"There are a lot of things that need to be seen and not just sit there and say we need to be aggressive. Aggression is not about putting a close in fielder. Rather it's about analysing and finding out how we can get batsmen out."
The wicketkeeper admitted that 2012 had been a tough year for him but claimed the early exit from the 2007 World Cup was the toughest thing to deal with in his cricketing career.
Lost in Mumbai
Dhoni blamed the batsman for the series defeat, saying they failed to get big partnerships when it was needed.
“In cricket, it is not about who is scoring how many runs. It's about how big the partnership is.”
Asked to highlight a point in the series where the team could have lost the plot, he picked the second Test where India lost wickets in a heap.
“We made one mistake in Kolkata where we lost six wickets in a session. That was very crucial because it was important to absorb the pressure so that the batsmen coming in later could come in and play freely.”
Lost in Mumbai
Dhoni blamed the batsman for the series defeat, saying they failed to get big partnerships when it was needed.
“In cricket, it is not about who is scoring how many runs. It's about how big the partnership is.”
Asked to highlight a point in the series where the team could have lost the plot, he picked the second Test where India lost wickets in a heap.
“We made one mistake in Kolkata where we lost six wickets in a session. That was very crucial because it was important to absorb the pressure so that the batsmen coming in later could come in and play freely.”