Dhoni aims for a 7-0 whitewash against England

Bangalore, Nov 24 (PTI) India's skipper Mahendra Singh
Dhoni is aiming at a 7-0 whitewash in the One-Day
International series against England, despite having clinched
the series by taking an unassailable 4-0 lead after winning a
thriller here.

The Indian team for the fifth match in Cuttack is likely
to undergo changes in order to rest some senior players, who
have played a lot of cricket in recent months.

"You will see a few changes in the side in the next three
matches. Some of the people who have not played in the series
so far will play but we still look to win games," Dhoni said
after leading his team to a 19-run win via Duckworth-Lewis
method.

"Three more matches to come and we want to win those
games," he said.

With the match reduced to 22-overs-a-side following two
rain-interruptions, Indian bowlers survived some anxious
moments before taming the opponents and Dhoni said the task
was not easy.

"Because of the wet outfield, the ball became soggy and
it was not easy to grip the ball. We have one specialist
spinner (Harbhajan Singh) and part-time spinners. It was
really difficult for them to grip the ball.

"But then Zaheer (Khan) bowled very well, along with
Ishant (Sharma) and Munaf (Patel). Overall it was a very good
team effort," Dhoni said.

Asked how he was marshalling his bowlers in such tense
situation, Dhoni said, "I was not giving much advice. First I
like them to bowl to their own plans and if that does not work
I ask them to bowl according to my plans.

"But Zaheer has been of great help throughout the series
and has taken the extra initiative to help others. It has
worked for us and we should be thankful to him," Dhoni added.

His England captain Kevin Pietersen said his team lost to
a formidable side.

"India is playing fantastic cricket at the moment. It was
a learning curve for the youngsters and also the guys who have
been around. It's never nice to lose a series and we are now
4-0 down in the series. But it was against a side which has
beaten the mighty Australia and now England," Pietersen said.

Trailing the seven-match series 0-4 and facing a possible
whitewash, Pietersen said England attack lost its firepower in
India's placid tracks.

According to him, the Indians are generally vulnerable to
swing and bounce but the tracks here were quite unresponsive.

"It has been a totally different ball game here,"
Pietersen rued.

The England captain, meanwhile, was highly impressed by
the Team India vice captain and said, "Sehwag is great to
watch." PTI RS
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