Kochi: It would be a mistake to believe that India will enjoy an upper hand against the West Indies in the one-day series just because the Caribbean side lost the Test series, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on Wednesday.
India won the series 2-0 but Dhoni said it was not an easy task to get that scoreline and the ODI format may actually suit the West Indies cricketers.
“The West Indies are a good team. You may say that the Test matches got over on the third day itself and it was easy but it was not. There were situations where we were under pressure and then we had to build a partnership. It was not an easy series as the scorecard suggest. ODI is a different squad and this may be suiting them as far as 50-50 overs match,” Dhoni said at the pre-match press conference.
“It is important that we take the match with a right frame of mind and not thinking about whether the opposition played well or not.”
Most of the matches in the ODI series against Australia were high-scoring affairs. Asked if similar scores can be seen in the three-match series against the West Indies, Dhoni said it cannot be predicted at this stage.
“It all depends on how the wicket here is going to behave. Before the start it is not easy to say what will be the good score to win a match. We will see how the wicket behaves and then we plan and may be 260 or 280 could be a good score if it becomes flat. The dew factor has also to be taken and then an average of 230 or 240 could be an ideal score.”
Dhoni said his players have worked hard on bowling in death overs and hoped that will show on the field gradually.
“What we have done after the Australia series, we are making the bowlers to do a death over bowling practice. But it still requires a little more time to reflect it on the field. But, they are putting in a lot of effort and we have seen a lot of improvement in that front. I am hoping that they come out well after the effort they are putting in,” he said.
For his part, Windies skipper Dwayne Bravo said the shorter format would suit his players.
“This format (ODIs) gives us more freedom. In Tests, it is about balance of skills and other things. It is a different story altogether here. The Test series loss is behind us now. We see ourselves more comfortable with this format and more confident too,” Bravo told reporters.
Bravo, who joined the team for the ODI series, said they are aware of the challenge in front of them, and is expecting his players to put their best foot forward.
“We are aware of playing the world champions. We respect their strengths but at the same time we know as to what we need to do to win matches. It is not going to be easy. We will represent ourselves well in the coming one day series,” he said.
“I think one-day and T20 cricket gives you more freedom. One player could be turn out to be a match winner. That is why this format is rather easy for us playing be it against India or Sri Lanka. As long as you play smart in a 50-over match, then one could win the series,” he added. (PTI)
