CHESTER-LE-STREET: It's hard for him but Indian skipper MS Dhoni is trying to be as positive as he can. Injuries, poor form and bad luck have played havoc with his team but he is still trying to find redemption through the ODI series. And he sees it as a perfect opportunity for the youngsters to prove their worth. "It's very important. If you think about the next three to four years, these are the cricketers who will be playing for India. So, the experience they are getting will make them better. I think they will get games which they need," he said.
When asked if Nasser Hussain's controversial comment after the T20 match had anything to do with India's improved performance in the first ODI, Dhoni said: "That's his view and I think he is paid to give his opinion. We will stick to what we are supposed to do and that's to play cricket. I don't know, I have said this many times that I don't think about things that are not in my control. It starts with the toss and ends with rain... In a similar way we can't do much about what one says or not... it's their view and we can't say much about it."
"I don't think it's because of that comment that we have come and performed like this. We have potential and I felt everything fell in place in this match."
Meanwhile, England captain Alastair Cook was confident that his team would have chased the winning target of 275.
"We would have won it," he said. However, he didn't take the credit away from the Indians for the way they played. "You need to give credit to the way they played. Parthiv Patel specially batted very well. We will review the game like we always do and look at areas we can improve in," Cook added.
He also said that his bowlers did a better job in the second half of the Indian innings.
"We bowled well in the second half, especially in the batting powerplay. Jade (Dernbach) and Bressi (Tim Bresnan) bowled very well. At one stage they were looking at a score of over 300.
"Samit also was very good and we needed those 10 overs out of him. He has acquitted himself very well."
