DURBAN – Fresh from leading India to only their second Test win on five tours of South Africa, Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he would welcome playing the decisive third and final Test in Cape Town on a lively pitch. “It will be interesting to see what kind of wicket is prepared,” said Dhoni. “The greener the track the better it may be for us.” Dhoni said the Indian bowlers relied on skill rather than express pace.
“They are swing bowlers which means the greener the wicket the better it is for the bowlers.” The win ensured that India would retain their number one ranking in Test cricket, irrespective of the result in the final Test. Second- placed South Africa needed to win the series 3-0 to displace the tourists. But Dhoni said the ranking was not something which depended on a single victory. “It proves I’ve got a good side,” he said.
“It’s a true reflection. We started this process in September 2008 and we can say that in two years we have done well in most of the places where we have played … since 2008 all those Test matches have had a big impact on the morale and the confidence of the side.” Smith, meanwhile, said the match had been lost on the second day when his side were dismissed cheaply. “It wasn’t a 131 wicket.
If we had managed to stay level with India it would have made our task a lot easier in the fourth innings. There were one or two unlucky dismissals and India bowled well but 131 wasn’t good enough.” Smith rejected a suggestion that after three successive defeats in Durban it was perhaps his own batsmen who were vulnerable on fast, bouncing pitches.
“We have played well at the Wanderers and at other places around the world. We haven’t played well in Durban, it is as simple as that. I think we were a bit loose at times. It was a wicket where you really needed to graft and grind things out.
Smith said the International Cricket Council needed to act on getting uniformity for reviews, referring to the wickets of De Villiers and Mark Boucher, who fell to debatable leg before wicket decisions, both of which were shown to be incorrect by television replays.
“The ICC needs to take responsibility,” he said. “They have to lead the way. They can’t leave it up to boards to negotiate these things. “If the technology is available and they want to trial it and use it, they must use it. We can have a proper idea of whether it works or not. Using it in one of seven series is not going to benefit anybody.”
Injured Sehwag to miss South Africa one-dayers: Flamboyant opener Virender Sehwag will miss the one-day series against South Africa due to an unspecified shoulder injury, the Indian cricket board said on Thursday. “Sehwag has been advised to withdraw from the one-day series to tend to his shoulder,” the board said in a statement, without elaborating on the injury. Sehwag played in the first two Tests against South Africa without any apparent discomfort and is expected to take the field in the decider in Cape Town from Sunday. Rohit Sharma will replace Sehwag in the one-day squad, while Test opener Murali Vijay has been added as the 17th member, the board said.
