Dhoni happy despite draw

Bridgetown: Despite failing to clinch victory in the third Test against the West Indies at the Kensington Oval here Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels that there is no reason for his team to be disheartened.
The match ended in a draw yesterday with the West Indies, who were chasing a target of 281 runs from 83 overs, tottering at 202 for 7 before inclement weather and bad light forced an end to the day’s play.
The Indians thus failed to seal victory despite being in a strong position, but Dhoni asserted that the visitors should take heart from the fact that they were let down by the weather rather than the opposition.
“Rain or bad light is not in our control. There is no reason why we should be disappointed. May be within another 12-13 overs more we could have got it (the win), but you can’t control it,” Dhoni told reporters after the end of play here yesterday.
West Indies were on 181 for 5, needing another 100 from 18.3 overs when rain interrupted the game for 32 minutes and then another 15 minutes were lost due to a wet square.
When bad light finally ended the game, the hosts had lost another couple of wickets.
“I thought 280 to get in 80 overs was always going to be difficult. The outfield was slow and as we have seen in this series, the shot-making has never been easy,” Dhoni said.
“They were five wickets down and we needed two more wickets which we did get. Only 100 runs at that stage to get could have appeared 70-run surplus for us.
“It was quite difficult to score freely unless you bowled really bad. That’s why scoring rate wasn’t high in this Test,” he added.
Dhoni asserted that despite the draw, his team had stepped up its performance from the first Test in Jamaica last week.
“Key contributions came from individuals. Ishant was brilliant; (VVS) Laxman, (Suresh) Raina, (Rahul) Dravid all contributed. We stepped up the performance, we were up to mark on the field,” he said.
The Indian captain also praised Ishant Sharma who picked up six wickets in the first and four in the second innings for a match haul of 10 for 108.
“Right from the IPL, Ishant has been bowling in the right areas.
Everything, from seam positioning to rhythm has been perfect from him.
“That’s the reason he is up in pace and bounce. He’s been bowling with pace and in good areas and has been the pick of our bowlers,” Dhoni said.
“Zaheer shared a lot of his experience with him and Sharma is now doing it with other quick bowlers,” he added.
Dhoni, however, sounded unhappy about the failure of Murali Vijay and Virat Kohli in the series.
“Murali is a good talent. He is a good boy, spends a lot of time (in improving himself), studying what needs to be done. He would have had a good deal to learn from the last (South Africa) and the present series.
“(As for Virat), it’s a difficult one. Personally after his innings between the break you have to interact with (him),” he stated.
“Performance is not always in players’ control. However, fair exposure and good work in the concerned area could get them there.
There is something positive in each decision,” he added.