Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been under fire back home for his listless captaincy during the drawn Trent Bridge Test but the Indian captain refused to be drawn into it and in turn called for better pitches during the remainder of the series.
Dhoni stressed there was nothing he could have done differently in the first Test and was happy with result.
India were in a winning position at the end of day three as they had reduced England to 352-9 after scoring 457 in the first innings.
But the 198-run last wicket partnership between Joe Root (154) and James Anderson (81) dented Indian hopes.
Dhoni was flayed for his failure to check the flow of runs by England’s last wicket pair.
On the final day yesterday the visitors found themselves fighting to save the Test when they lost six wickets for 184 in the first session before No7 Ravindra Jadeja (31) and Stuart Binny (78) rescued them with a 65-run partnership.
India eventually declared at 391-9 before both teams decided to call it a truce.
“I don’t think I could have changed much when Root and Anderson were going,” Dhoni said yesterday. “We tried a few things but the ball got soft and the bowlers got tired and I don’t think there was much else we could have done. We had a good combination and I was happy with the bowling attack.”
Dhoni felt the Jadeja-Binny stand was amongst the big positives for his team.
“The good thing about that partnership is that not many of our players have the experience of batting under pressure and save a Test match if the need arises,” he said.
“Games like this really gives them the exposure and teaches them what really needed to be done. I feel it is nice that some individuals stood up when the pressure was put on us.”
The Indian captain expects better pitches with pace and bounce unlike the flat surface at Nottingham.
“When you come to a country you want the speciality of that country to be put in front of you.
“England is not known for really fast wickets, more about swing bowling and overcast conditions, but you want a bit more life in the pitch. You want the wickets to be slightly quicker,” he added
