Jonathan Trott, on way to his 98

Mohali: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday dismissed suggestions that the one-day series win against England was a “revenge” for his team.

Speaking at the post-match media conference, Dhoni insisted that it is important to respect the opposition.

The following are excerpts

His crucial partnership with Ravindra Jadeja

From our T20 experience, we knew that 30 odd runs can be accumulated in the last two-three overs… So we wanted to bat against the England bowlers on even terms. We knew they can’t bowl yorkers all time. So, we waited for the short-pitched ones.

Ajinkya Rahane’s MoM-winning innings

He is one of the openers who plays spinners very well… It is only his second series. In the first two matches, he did not get many runs. So we had a chat with him… Today (Thursday), he played very well. He respected the bowlers and yet managed to get the runs when it was needed.

India’s overall performance

I am quite happy with the performance of the team when it comes to the one-day format…

On the youngsters responding to the challenge

I always felt that it’s important for the youngsters to bat up the order… What’s important is to groom the youngsters. They should be batting more than 20 overs… When they become a regular part of the side, then we can experiment with them a bit. When it comes to batting at No.6 and 7, it’s a completely different task. Yuvraj Singh was a great batsman at No.6… Of course, he now bats at No.4.

If he sees India’s series win as a revenge on England

Revenge is a very strong word and should not be used in sport... I don’t think it should be used in cricket. On one side we are talking about the spirit of the game and on other we are talking about revenge — it should not be like that. Victory is always a good feeling and we are simply very satisfied to win the series. It’s important to be nice to your opposition. When you are under pressure, you will definitely commit mistakes.

On being expressive on the field after the victory

It’s not that I don’t show expressions… I always show expressions, especially when I contribute. It was a close game, but we should have won it easily. We lost wickets in the middle… And all of a sudden there was pressure on us when Jadeja and I were batting.

With the series in pocket, whether there will be changes in the team for the last two games

We will see what to be done, but we are not sure as of now… Umesh (Yadav) got injured in the last over of the England innings… So a new bowler would definitely come in. But in the end, we want to field the best eleven.