Dhoni blames series whitewash on injury and rotten luck

Cardiff, Thoroughly outplayed in both the Tests and ODIs, Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the miserable tour of England was all about adjusting to shock injuries that pushed his team on the backfoot and dealing with a wretched run of bad luck. India signed off their nightmarish tour of England without a single win as they were beaten by six wickets in the rain-marred fifth and final one-dayer, bringing a disappointing end to Rahul Dravid’s ODI cricket career. Put into bat, India rode on a fluent century from Virat Kohli (107) and substantial contributions from Dravid (69) and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (50 not out) to post an impressive 304 for six on a batting-friendly Sophia Gardens pitch here yesterday. Chasing the challenging target and with their innings interrupted by intermittent rain, England were 166 for four in the 26th over but recovered to race to the revised target of 241 from 34 overs with 10 balls to spare. The hosts won the series 3-0 after one match was rained out and another ended in a tie. Jonathan Trott (63) and captain Alastair Cook (50) were the main contributors to the successful chase. Debutant Jonny Bairstow and Ravi Bopara, who knocked off the winning runs, also chipped in with unbeaten knocks of 41 and 37 respectively. The target was revised twice earlier as the start of the England run chase was delayed due to rain. First the target was revised to 295 from 47 overs and then to 270 from 40 overs. It was finally set at 241 from 34 overs and England reached the target comfortably. In his final assessment, Dhoni said injuries to several key team members played a huge part in the debacle. “I have not seen so many injuries in the last five years. To see 9-11 players get injured in one series has been shocking. In the ODI series we also did not have luck,” he said at the press conference after India lost the fifth and final ODI by six wickets via the Duckworth-Lewis method. [caption id=“attachment_86043” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Reuters”] [/caption]“If you look at the first two Tests, we were left with three bowlers. If your bowling starts looking weak, the pressure piles on batsmen. You cannot carry a team consistently on just one department. Dhoni, however, underlined the point that practice games should not be an official fixture when only 11 players could play. He also said he held the present England side in high regard but was not prepared to concede they were currently the best side in the world. “England are a very good side, irrespective of the format they are playing. As they play more and more cricket, they would get only better. But it’s difficult to say if they are the best side. The top 3-4 sides are all good. They are among the best sides. “In the sub-continent, it might be different but they can still get the reverse swing to control the batsmen. England’s batting line up also looks settled. Broad and Bresnan can not only bowl fast and quick but they can also bat which means England bats very deep,” he said. Despite playing without a break for a long time, Dhoni gave the hint that he could be turning out in the Champions League Twenty20 rather than taking a break. Follow Firstpost on Facebook , Twitter and Google+ for breaking news and views PTI