India have suffered a third successive series defeat under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. On January 17, India conceded an unconquerable 0-3 lead to Australia in a five-match ODI series when they lost to the hosts in Melbourne by three wickets.
After the defeat, the Indian skipper at the post-match press conference mocked his critics by saying that a review of his leadership can only be done only through Public Interest Litigation (PIL). The 34-year-old was at his sarcastic best.
File a PIL to judge my performance as the skipper: Dhoni
Dhoni jokingly said, "There will be a conflict of interest if I start reviewing my performance. We would have to put a PIL to judge my performance as the skipper."
On a serious note, the Indian captain explained that the team’s young bowling unit just doesn’t have enough experience. He said, "It is not about the leader. I am captain at the moment and somebody else will come later. It is more important to see the areas we are lacking, the departments which have to improve when it comes to shorter formats.
"We don't have a seaming all-rounder so let's not even go to that topic. If you see this series it is a relatively inexperienced bowling lineup. Ishant Sharma has played a lot of international cricket but he is not someone who has been consistently part of the format.
"Umesh Yadav has been on and off and there are others who have made their debuts here. So we have to assess right now is how good the individuals are and what are they doing and what's their rate of development."
I always felt Kohli was a top-order batsman: Dhoni
After Rohit Sharma's two centuries in the first two games, it was Virat Kohli's turn this time, as his 24th ODI century helped India post a challenging total. Dhoni praised both Kohli and Rohit on their progression as cricketers.
He said, "He has consistently performed and improved his performance. He is the best amongst the Indian batsmen, along with Rohit in the shorter format. Today the way he paced his innings, it was slightly different to the first two games.
“But he reads the game really well, which I think, is very important in the middle overs. Virat is somebody that we'll have to look up to in the future because he's somebody who will take the team forward for a long time.
“Kohli is one youngster who has developed really well. I still remember the days when he was part of the side at first, then he was dropped and then he came back in. It was in the Sri Lanka series I remember, and he opened for us and then he batted lower down for us.”
"I always felt he was a top-order batsman and once he got the chance he grabbed that opportunity. Nobody even talks about anyone else at that slot which I feel is the good part."
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