Our bowlers have improved: Dhoni

Kanpur: 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.

Dhoni said while the top-order batsmen were in fine form, what was heartening was the improved show by the bowlers.

“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 beat West Indies by five wickets in the third and final one-dayer here to win the three-match series 2-1.

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 track, 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, said he was comfortable with the pitch 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.

“This year has been great and I hope to continue to play like this. In the previous two ODIs also, I was playing well but got out. So I wanted to score big today,” Dhawan, who has scored five centuries this season, said.

Man-of-the-Series Virat Kohli said the series win augured well for the team but the real test would start with the upcoming tour of 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, who scored 204 runs in three matches against the West Indies.

Asked about his current form, which has seen him score most number of runs in a calendar year, he said, “I am just trying to make the most of the sort of form I’m in now.

“Trying to stay in the zone. Been coming off well.

“But the most important month for us is coming now in South Africa, so good to get a few runs before going there. I try to score as many as I can, staying in a nice happy space.”

West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo felt his team was short by 20 runs but said they have fought well in the series and can hold their heads high.

“We did very well (with the bat), Darren Sammy played a fantastic innings, can’t forget the innings of Marlon Samuels.

“We lost a few wickets at crucial times. (Lendl) Simmons and I got out at crucial times, we could have capitalised better,” he said.

“So we were short by some 20 runs. Chasing 280 instead of 260 could have been a different ball game.”

“We should have given a better bowling effort. But overall it was a very good performance by the team. Defeating India in India has been very difficult and we gave the number one ODI team a close fight. Our players can held their heads high,” Bravo added.