Kolkata, Oct 26: Without uttering the word ‘revenge', Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Tuesday indirectly took a dig at the Englishmen for their sorry record on Indian soil.
Talking to reporters after a 5-0 whitewash over England with a thumping 95-run victory, Dhoni said: “I don't want to sound rude. But if you the see the records of England it would be 16 is to 1 or so,” he said.
Dhoni said England were a very talented side but on Indian conditions their batting was yet to click.
“I remember them as a very strong side and they can give you the punch with a good bowling unit. But they need to click as a batting unit. It's just that they have not done well in India.”
India too surrendered as visitors in the series in England where they lost the Test series 4-0, one-day series 3-0 and also the one-off T20 for a 8-0 drubbing.
Dhoni said his team's weakness lies in bowling as they had failed to make use of the conditions in England.
“I've not said anything different. We must realise our strengths and weaknesses. Of course it's a great series win. But our pacers could not bowl 10 overs. But it didn't happen here. We have to realise where we have to go better.
“It's good to have bowlers. We need to improve as a team. Hopefully we have improved but we still need to be consistent and not depending on the venue.
“We have to be more consistent with our bowling as well. These are the areas we need to emphasis upon so that we may not see a Raina bowling alongside Tiwary,” he said.
On the skipper batting at No. 6, man of the series Dhoni said he had adjusted himself to the order.
“The last time I played up the order was in Pakistan and I could not capitalise on a couple of innings. I was supposed to bat at 5, 6 or 7 and got myself adjusted. Now the format of the game has also changed. Now with split of powerplays the situations are different. We have to be good at slog overs and rotate strikes as well. It's about taking risks as well.
“I have changed my style of batting. At 3 you can be flamboyant but at 5 and 6 you have to be careful.”
Reiterating his stand on terming the series as revenge, he said, “It's not about revenge. In sport you don't go for revenge. We are a good side. Our bowling did not perform to the extent in the series. For us it's about to do well but not setting examples.”
Asked about the brickbats they received after their England show, Dhoni said they have learned to take them in their strides.
“It happens in the world. You are appreciated when you do well. It should be taken in an open heart. I can also sit and criticise. I was not too worried about criticism. We know cricket is big in India. It's a part of our life.”
India dished out a dominating show even without Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, and Dhoni praised the youngsters for that.
“It's difficult to replace the seniors talent-wise. But these youngsters have clicked as a unit.
“They are slightly better fielders. They may save 8-10 runs which matter in ODIs. They have reacted in the right way. They waited to turn the game in their favour. But we really can't really replace Sachin, Sehwag and Yuvraj.”
Dhoni said he had no idea about a commotion involving Jadeja along with an English player.
On the low turnout in Eden Gardens, Dhoni said, “We played a lot of cricket in India. The World Cup, IPL and then the Champions League were held here. Big stars like Sachin were missing. This is one of the biggest stadia in India so it's not easy to get a jam-packed crowd every time.”
