Mahendra Singh Dhoni

London: Down 1-2 in the series, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on the eve of the crucial fifth and final Test, against England, that process is more important than result.

Speaking at a media conference on Thursday, Dhoni also stressed that they are not really worried whether they would lose the series and, instead, are focusing only on the match.

The following are excerpts

If there’s a fear of losing the series

Let us take one match at a time… We know that if we win this match what impact it will have on the series. But let us not look at the series, because it becomes like a long-term goal. We should look at small goals… Start of the Test match, then breaking it up into sessions… And if you win more sessions than the opposition, and if you don’t do badly in the sessions that you have lost, you will end up wining the Test… That is the priority for us. So we are not thinking too much ahead.

Process versus result

The result is never more important than the process. It is always the process that will be the key because it puts less pressure on the team. It is an important Test match… But at the same time, it is still the breaking up of the sessions that matters, because that would give us an advantage. So we will still be looking more into the process than the result.

Whether in the Lord’s Test, England played very badly rather than India playing very well

We should feel proud when the team does well… At times, it seems that the opposition have done worse… So it’s important to credit the bowlers who did well in the fourth Test. At the same time, we have to look ahead. Yes, we didn’t do well in the last two matches, but England should get the credit for their wins. But to give credit to England for the loss and win both is not right.

On losing nine wickets in a session in the Manchester Test

We have already spoken about that… But I really don’t like to speak about that in a press conference. It’s more of a team environment thing… We have addressed that… It was not just that game, in the earlier games too we lost some wickets in very short spans of time. It is not really about addressing it, it’s more about soaking it up. It’s important to learn from the last game and make sure that we don’t repeat those mistakes.

Whether him taking a day off on Wednesday would hurt the team’s preparations

No, because three days before that, I was with the team and we had enough team building activities. So that one day off doesn’t make much of a difference.

On Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s fitness

He has managed the workload quite well so far… He has a few niggles, but he is always close to 80 per cent fit… Not to forget the amount of bowling that he has done… There’s also his batting and fielding. It’s good that he is shaping up well. But he is also someone who we cannot afford to rest at this point in the series. It is an important game for us and hopefully he will turn up fit for the game.

The Indian batsmen’s poor form

If it is a technical thing and you need to work on your technique, it becomes very difficult to do it in the middle of the series. We don’t have an off season and after this series, we don’t have any rest or time off when we can go and work on the technical aspect… The best thing for the batsmen is to do some minor changes if needed and be aware of the problem…So far the batsmen have been working on their technique and it is a matter of time before it starts showing.

If Cheteshwar Pujara may be moved up the order to open the innings

It becomes very difficult to answer that question because we will have to see whether that middle-order batsmen have really contributed. So all of a sudden, to go in with like that in a big game will have its own consequences. The only big concern in not having big opening partnerships is that you expose the No.3 batsman. So Pujara has to face that pressure. It will only help him improve.

On Virat Kohli not getting runs

It is important for him to remain positive. If he can score runs in Australia or South Africa, there’s no reason why he can’t score runs in English conditions. Virat is batting well... But he has been middling the ball well in the nets and we have seen glimpses of that.

His own batting

I might be one of the batsmen with a horrible technique when it comes to Test cricket. But it’s all about adjustment for me… For me, it’s not about runs but also about how I bat. It is difficult to change my technique all of a sudden. You need to be aware of the limitations of your technique.