26 July,2011 08:43 AM IST | | IANS
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said loss of key players to injuries midway through the first Test did not allow them to play to their full potential against England.
India lost the first Test by 196 runs on the fifth day here yesterday.
They had lost Zaheer Khan on the first day when the pacer strained his hamstring and could not bowl for the rest of the match. Sachin Tendulkar was down with a viral infection and Gautam Gambhir hurt his elbow that changed the batting order in the second innings when India were chasing 458 runs for victory.
Dhoni
"It was a very good Test match. Pevin Pietersen and Matt Prior came up with brilliant knocks and then there were couple of good knocks from Indian batsmen as well. Overall, it was a satisfying Test match."
"Zaheer's injury was a big blow for us. We had to play with three bowlers. The conditions were more suited for the fast bowlers and it was not spinning much. So it was tough for Harbhajan. The remaining bowlers had to bowl longer spells. I was pleased with how the bowlers stuck to it."
"Unfortunately, Sachin was also unfit and had viral infection and Gambhir got injured which means that the the batting order had to be shuffled in the second innings. Batsmen were not batting at their usual position."
A lot of important players were not playing in West Indies. Tendulkar, Gambhir and Zaheer missed the series in the Caribbean and joined the team here. "A few more days of preparations would have been good," said Dhoni.
