CHENNAI: The under-fire Indian Test team on Friday got the backing of former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who said there are quite a few positives to pick despite the drubbing handed out by South Africa — the prominent one being the bowlers’ performance.
Virat Kohli’s world no.1 India are trailing 0-2 in the three-match series after heavy losses in Cape Town and Centurion. The third and final Test is scheduled to be held in Johannesburg from January 24.
“I would say look at the positives. To win a Test match you need 20 wickets and we have taken 20 wickets. If you can’t take 20 wickets, what is the next thing? You look to draw a Test match,” Dhoni, who has retired from Tests but continues to be a part of India’s limited-overs teams, said at a press conference.
“How you can draw a Test match is by giving less runs and by scoring runs,” he told reporters here at a promotional event.
Dhoni said the fact that Indian bowlers are taking 20 wickets in a match is a sign that the side is never too far from a win.
“If you are not able to get 20 wickets, you can’t win a Test match irrespective of whether you are playing in India or you are playing outside. But that is the big positive. We are taking 20 wickets,” he said.
“This means we are always in a position to win a Test match. Once you start scoring runs, you are there,” he added.
The Jharkhand stumper, who led the Chennai Super Kings in the first eight editions of the IPL before it was suspended in the wake of the 2013 spot-fixing scam, said he was happy to be back at the franchise.
“I never thought of playing for any other franchise other than CSK. Chennai is my second home. Fans here have adopted me as one of their own,” Dhoni said.
“A lot of people approached me, I can tell you that. But I can’t think of not coming back to CSK. What we have been through, how we have conducted ourselves, how the management has been. How the fans have been. This is a special place. So that thought of being in any other franchise was never a question,” he added.
Apart from Dhoni, CSK also retained Suresh Rainaand Ravindra Jadeja.