MS Dhoni smashed 224 off 265 deliveries in India&#39;s first innings score of 572 in reply to Australia&#39;s 380 to lay the foundation for the hosts&#39; convincing eight-wicket victory in the opening cricket Test of the four-match series here. Questioned about his majestic double century, Dhoni replied:&quot;I had never dreamt that I would get a double in Tests. I had never even dreamt of playing for the country. So, let&#39;s just keep it simple.&quot; Coming onto bat on the third day of match with India at 196 for four, Dhoni produced a stunning counter-attacking knock on a difficult Chepauk pitch to notch up his maiden double ton, his sixth Test century overall. &quot;It was important to play some shots. If you have those extra catching fielders, you might make one mistake and end your innings. I had to play a few shots to try and spread the field. That was the motive,&quot; said Dhoni, who was also adjudged the man-of-the-match for his stunning knock. <img alt="MS Dhoni" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2013/feb/dhoni26feb.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 742px;" /> MS Dhoni. &quot;But the first partnership was important. Sachin (Tendulkar) and (Cheteshwar) Pujara batted for a period of time. The partnership between Virat (Kohli) and Sachin was crucial. It tired the bowlers a bit.&quot; The Indian skipper reserved special praise for off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who returned with a match haul of 12 for 198. &quot;Ashwin bowled brilliantly. He bowled in right areas and has got variations. He was consistent in this match. In the second innings, he was well supported by Bhajji (Harbhajan Singh).&quot; Having learnt a hard lesson from England series which they lost 1-2 after winning the first Test, Dhoni doesn&#39;t want to get complacent as the job is far from being over yet. &quot;It&#39;s important to be focussed now, but at the same time it is important that the bowlers take some time off now,&quot; he said. Australia captain Michael Clarke refused to give an excuses for the defeat and said they were completely &quot;outplayed&quot; by India, who used the conditions to their advantage. Clarke was of the view that Dhoni&#39;s double ton was game changer for India. &quot;Full credit to India. They played outstanding cricket, especially Dhoni. The way he played that changed the game completely,&quot; he said. &quot;The pitch was good. It looked a lot worse than it played. In the second innings, it played tougher, but that&#39;s what you expect in the sub-continent. No excuses, we got outplayed,&quot; the Australian skipper insisted. He praised Moises Henriques, who scored back-to-back half centuries on debut. &quot;Moises&#39; debut is a positive. He was outstanding on debut. But we have got to turn things around. Work hard in the nets and get ready for the next Test match,&quot; Clarke said.u00a0

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was today modest in admitting that he never dreamt of playing for the country, leave aside scoring a double hundred in Test cricket ever in his career.

I never ever dreamt of scoring double century: Dhoni

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I never ever dreamt of scoring double century: Dhoni

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