India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday regret absence of Virender Sehwag in the first two Tests against England. Dhoni call out the opener is one of the few players in the world who could power the outcome of a game in a big way.
Sehwag, included in the squad of 17, is getting better from an action on his right shoulder and in his lack, youthful Chennai opener Abhinav Mukund will open the innings with Gautam Gambhir at least in the first two Tests.
We, as a side, rely on our openers quite a bit. A good start helps our middle order capitalize on it. There aren't many cricketers in the world who impact a game like Sehwag does. We will miss him,MSD said as India opens the tour with a three-day game against Somerset from Friday.
MSD insist that it was important for the openers to stand up to perhaps the best international attack in the world. The Test series will begin at Lord's from July 21.England is a very good side; they regularly get plenty of runs. They take 20 wickets. We have to be at our very best,he said.
The Indian captain did not allow himself to be weigh down by the fact that England, if victor by 2-0 in the series could displace them as number one Test team in the world.The basis of sport is to enjoy it. A lot of times you don't enjoy sport while playing top class cricket. We don't want to get into it the ratings aren't that significant,he said.
MSD was also not ready to be besieged by England's strength and also looked at a few positives due in next few weeks.In West Indies, it was difficult to consistently score runs. Shot-playing wasn't that easy. It could be dissimilar here. You can play shots. The outfield surely will be 200 miles faster than in the Caribbean which can be a great help to score runs,he said.
Over the next five weeks, in the four Tests, Indians can be certain of a huge support in the stands by the massive Asian population in the country. MSD acknowledged it but didn't think it would be the formative factor.Crowd support can push bowlers and batters to do that bit additional but frankly it's up to 11 players playing the match.
The bench strength and the support staff. MSD did not forget to express his understanding with the victims fo the Mumbai blast and hoped the resilience of Mumbaikars would help them overcome this tragedy as well.It's a sad event. It would be sad even if it didn't happen in Mumbai. With any luck they will be soon being back at their best since Mumbai has pliability.
Coach Duncan Fletcher was by the skipper's side and said he did not think he would come back to England in such a way.Once I left England, I thought that's it. I did a bit of consultancy before the coaching bug bit me again. When this chance came along, I couldn't turn it down.