Thaindian News

Bridgetown (Barbados), July 3 (IANS) Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was all praise for Ishant Sharma, who took 10 wickets in the second cricket Test against the West Indies.

Ishant extracted good bounce from the lively Kensington Oval track and troubled the
West Indies batsmen in both innings to return 10-108.

“Right from the Indian Premier League, Ishant has been bowling well. He was doing everything right - like the seam position - and he has been pitching the ball in the right areas, that’s why he’s able to get pace and bounce. The time he spent with Zaheer Khan has been very useful for him, because Zaheer has shared his experience with him,” said Dhoni.

Dhoni said he was not disappointed at drawing the Test. He made a bold declaration on the fifth day, setting the West Indies a target of 281 in around 80 overs. The hosts were 202 for seven when bad light stopped play.

“We are not disappointed, because it (the draw) happened due to things that are beyond our control, like rain and bad light,” he said.

“We wanted to bowl around 80 overs, but unfortunately we were not able to do so. We tried our best, so there’s no reason to be frustrated.”

Dhoni said he thought 280 would be a difficult target for West Indies.

“The outfield was also very slow, so we thought that was a good enough target and that’s why we declared.

“We started with an attacking field straightway, and that’s why they got a few boundaries initially.”

West Indies then lost three quick wickets before Darren Bravo (73) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (12) steadied the innings with a 54-run partnership. Bravo and Carlton Baugh (46) then added 69 runs before they were reduced to 132/5.

“It was pretty balanced then. They were five down, and we needed just two more wickets. We got them towards the end and from that point it would have been difficult for them to get 70-80 runs.”