Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni confessed that it was a difficult phase of his career, says a report in The Hindu.
“It is the most important Test not just as captain, but as an individual too. This sort of situation comes very rarely for the team. It happened against South Africa when we were playing at home and we were down and the last Test was in Kanpur. I won’t say it’s a good situation to be in, but it’s a good test of our character,” he said.
“When people appreciate me a lot, I am not in seventh heaven and it’s the same when people criticise me, because I know the kind of fan following we have. We have extreme opinions. We raise the same person to the skies and then pull him down. I always say that we should be somewhere in the middle. I have been quite good at maintaining that, whether we win a game or lose a game,” he added.
On the Nagpur pitch, Dhoni said, “The wicket looks good, it’s quite hard and we’ll have to see how it behaves. We could play three spinners. You weigh the pacers and spinners and see who might play a bigger role. There will be some reverse swing so we will have to see what we go in with. Maybe an additional spinner will be more effective in the second innings. You never know someone might turn out to be a great bowler and a great debutant for India. You have to keep your faith in your bowlers.”
He supported his team saying, “Of course, we have struggled in the last two Test matches. This might happen in the future too and you will say that all these youngsters should go out and new youngsters should come in. You have to be consistent and you have to keep faith in the youngsters. People who have done so much for Indian cricket should not be judged on a series or a couple of series or on half a season.”
Meanwhile, the DNA reports that Dhoni is happy to have Sachin Tendulkar in his squad.
“He (Tendulkar) is the best man to have in the team in a situation like this because of the kind of experience he has and the kind of performances he has given in similar situations in the past over the years,” the Indian skipper said adding that the entire team looks up to him for inspiration. “He is someone we all look up to. When it comes to Sachin, I think it’s best not to speculate. Let him enjoy his cricket,” he said.