The triumphant Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday praised his batsmen as well bowlers for a successful start to the 2012-13 season, with a 4-1 ODI series win over Sri Lanka.
The resilient Indian cricket team on Saturday won the fifth and final One Day International of the five-match series against Sri Lanka by 20 runs, to clinch the series 4-1.
India rode on calculated half century knocks from opener Gautam Gambhir (88), middle-order batsman Manoj Tiwary (65) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (58), to put a competitive 294 for 7 on the board, before Irfan Pathan (5 for 61) scythed through the Sri Lankan line-up to bundle the hosts out for 274 in the 46th over of their chase.
Dhoni praised the Delhi dasher, Gautam Gambhir, for providing a steady start, however he said that his partnership with man of the match Irfan Pathan was crucial.
"This was a very good wicket to bat on. Gautam batted well, we had a very good platform,” said the Indian skipper after his side clinched the five-match ODI series 4-1, with a 20-run win the final one-dayer, on Saturday, at Pallekele.
“The last 10 overs we had to get a fair amount of runs...If one of me and Irfan got out, we may not have got to that score. So we played safe for a while,” he added further.
Though happy with the outcome of the series, Dhoni admitted that they still need to improve both their batting as well as bowling.
“We still need to improve, not only in the bowling but also the batting,” said the wicketkeeper batsman from Ranchi.
“...it's important that we dictate the bowling and score 15 runs more than the par score. If we are playing with part-time bowlers, we need to those 10 to 15 runs,” he added further.
The visiting skipper was also seen limping during India’s innings, but he said that it was just a niggle and hoped to play in the tour concluding one-off T20 International against the Islanders, which will get underway at the same Pallekele venue on Tuesday, August 7, 2012.
The series win also earned the world champions a promotion on the ICC rankings, as they moved to No. 2, ahead of South Africa.
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