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Ishant Sharma unlikely for 4th Test match against England at Old Trafford: MS Dhoni

Talking about the loss the Indian captain said, “We didn’t play good cricket. We let Moeen Ali bowl well."

MS Dhoni © Getty Images
MS Dhoni © Getty Images

Jul 31, 2014

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on Friday after the 266-run defeat in the third Test match against England at Southampton that experienced pacer Ishant Sharma is unlikely for the next Test match at Old Trafford.

Dhoni said after the defeat, “Ishant [Sharma] is unlikely to get fit for the next Test match as well. I have been talking about this to the physio but there is no surety.

Talking about the loss the Indian captain said, “We didn’t play good cricket. We let Moeen Ali bowl well. He bowled very good lines. One odd ball will turn. We gave him chances to capitalise and he did.”

Dhoni said Pankaj Singh, who came into the side in place of Ishant, bowled really well in the match. Dhoni said, “Bowled really very well. Line was proper. [Mohammed] Shami and Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar Kumar] also bowled well but they are not hit-the-deck bowlers.”

Dhoni added, “Quite a few misses in the third Test match. We can bounce back with the talent that we have in the squad. We have to back ourselves as a batting unit and play better shots.”

Dhoni said that the dismissal of key batsmen on crucial junctions hurt his side, and few soft dismissals on the fourth day evening were the ones that changed the game.

“Rahane when he got out and when other wickets fell there was a big impact. We lost way too many soft wickets on Day Four evening. Reason for selecting more batsmen was that we could use them well. We have the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Murli Vijay who can turn the ball well. I wanted to use the part-time spinners well. We need to be more patient on wickets like these.”

 

Ishant Sharma unlikely for next Test match against England: MS Dhoni

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