18 August,2014 08:37 AM IST | | PTI
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has said continuous failure affected the confidence of their top-order as they could not absorb the pressure, leading to the 3-1 series debacle
Gautam Gambhir, Murali Vijay
London: Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has said continuous failure affected the confidence of their top-order as they could not absorb the pressure but at the same time blamed lack of experience for India's meek 1-3 surrender in the series, which concluded here yesterday.
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England's James Anderson wins a leg before wicket verdict against India opener Murali Vijay during Day Three of the Oval Test yesterday. Pic/Getty Images
"The top-order felt the pressure of not scoring, that's what you have to do in Test cricket, absorb pressure. A bit more application from the batsmen and it would have been better," Dhoni said after India lost the fifth Test by an innings and 244 runs.
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"Right from the start, our batsmen never really performed, the lower order helped out. That camouflaged the performance of the top order, just scoring 150-60 runs will not be enough to defend against the home team," he added.
Demanding conditions
Asked about the English conditions, Dhoni said, "It's demanding but the wickets were good, nice pace and bounce. In the overcast conditions the fast bowlers get swing and the English bowlers were very consistent."
The Indian captain though hoped that his young players will take their lessons from the series and play better when they come to England next time. "We've lost a lot of confidence over the five-Test series.
It is disappointing, there will be many experiences which the youngsters will learn - not too many have played Tests away from home and hopefully they can take that it into the future."
13.4
Virat Kohli's average in the Test series. He scored 134 runs in 10 innings