England tour will be a great challenge: MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni during India’s tour to England in 2011

Ahead of the England tour, Indian captain MS Dhoni said in a press conference in Mumbai today that the 2-month long tour will be a tough challenge for the young Indian side. Dhoni and coach Duncan Fletcher addressed the media in Mumbai on Saturday ahead of their long tour of England.

India will play five Tests, five ODI matches and one T20I during July-September 2014. The last time India visited England, they ended up on the wrong side of a 4-0 whitewash.

Reflecting on the previous tour in 2011, the Indian skipper said that injuries hampered their chances 3 years ago.

“During the 2011 England, we had 8-9 injuries. It put lot of presure on us and we didn’t have part timers with us then. 2011 was a difficult period for us. We lost the series 7-0 and later lost in Australia also.”

Dhoni said that the team has learnt from previous tours, adding, “There are quite a few things we learned from those tours. It will be a challenge for all members of the tour. We have 18 member squad and its a long series. The squad looks big but we needed it because last time we lost too many players due to injuries. It is important to have good practice session before the tour starts.

“The tracks in England depend a lot on the conditions. If it’s overcast, then the ball will swing. It is very difficult to replace Sehwag at the opening slot and Rahul bhai (Rahul Dravid) at no. 3. It will be a good challenge for these boys. They have got good exposure now in past two series.”

Though Dhoni fared poorly in the Test series in 2011, he emerged the highest run-getter in the ODI series following that. In 5 matches, Dhoni scored 236 runs at an average of 78.66. He stressed that he’ll be taking an aggressive approach this time around.

“As far as my batting is concerned, I need to be far more aggressive. When I am aggressive, I am far better than when I try to play like a proper batsman. I intend to go for my shots from the first ball. I have to back my instincts. Six to seven batsman when you play, it is very important to back my strength and not think too much about the situation. It is very important that I back my strength and play aggressive strokes and score runs rather than taking my time out,” Dhoni said.

India will get time to acclimatise to the conditions this time around with two practice matches scheduled before the 5-Test series.

“For quite a few players it's a first tour to England but have had exposure in South Africa and New Zealand and have a few games behind them. It's good we are going early so that we can get into the groove. It's a long series and not very usual to play 5-Test match series. Overall, it's looking good. We have got enough time to prepare,” he said.