Perth, Jan 15: Having sealed their fate in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with three consecutive losses, India skipper MS Dhoni and his team will be playing for pride in the fourth and final Test at Adelaide.

In the post-match interaction with the media, MS Dhoni appreciated Virat Kohli and Umesh Yadav’s efforts in an otherwise disappointing series.

Excerpts:

On the third straight loss being difficult to digest

Yes, it is a difficult one. We haven’t performed well throughout the series until now. In this particular [match] I think [David] Warner played really well. He took the bowlers on and that one session took the game away from us. [It would have made a] difference if we would have made runs in the second innings, but we didn’t. The failure of the batting line-up was something that really hurt us. As I said, in the last two Test matches that we have played, when you get out [for less than] 200-odd runs, there is not much for the bowlers [to defend].

On whether some of the Indian cricketers were not the players they used to be

Not really [...]. Some of the innings you don’t score [and] some of the series you don’t score. Maybe it’s [just] two back-to-back series abroad where that they have not performed. They have the experience and it really counts […]

On Virat Kohli and Umesh Yadav’s performances, the positives from the Test

That’s a big positive. If you talk about the batting, Virat batted really well in both the innings in this game. [There is a lot of] pressure on him because Rohit [Sharma] is another talented batsman who is sitting on the bench which is constantly pushing Virat. It was good to see him perform under pressure.

We all know Umesh Yadav is a very good bowler. He is someone who is very capable of taking wickets. He is learning how to bowl in one area consistently and get wickets. […] He is not too expensive.

On whether testing pitches and conditions were the reasons behind India’s dismal overseas showings

It’s not only that. [...] [When] you come to Australia, you [see] the pace and the bounce. You go to England, you [see] swing. In the same way, when you come to the subcontinent, we want the batsmen to feel the turn and the bounce when it comes to the spinners. Every place will be special in its own way. It’s just that we have not adapted quickly enough.

On the team talk before Day 3, especially to Virat Kohli and Rahul Dravid

[We asked them to] keep it simple, play it delivery-by-delivery. […] Virat batted really well and was equally well supported by Rahul Dravid. But overall, as a batting unit, we have flopped as far as this series is concerned.

On whether the team had made a conscious effort to leave deliveries outside the off-stump

It is very important to do that specially when there is some kind of assistance [from the pitch] for the bowlers. They kep hitting the same areas. From one end there was a crack going around the off-stump [which] made it slightly difficult to leave it on the line. You had to watch the ball till late and then decide whether to leave it or play it. They kept building the pressure, kept hitting it in the same areas and it was a waiting game rather than anything else.

On whether it was a difficult pitch to bat on

It was a difficult wicket. Overall there was something for the fast bowlers throughout [the match]. If you take Warner’s batting [out of the equation], things would have looked slightly different. [However,] we only have the right to say that if we had scored runs in the second innings, but we didn’t. Apart from Warner most of the batsmen struggled a bit. If we take the last session out [of] the first day, we didn’t see any batsman score as freely as Warner did.

On whether India can turn things around and win the fourth Test

That’s the only motivation we have left. It has been a tough series. [We have] not batted to the kind of potential we have. We’ll definitely look to do that in Adelaide. The bowlers have shown [that] they are capable of taking wickets and it’s just that we need to put runs on the board.

On whether there would be changes in the team for the fourth Test

You will have to wait and watch. There are quite a few days [till then]. We’ll look to practice and get ready for Adelaide. We want to win one game at least because the last series we played [abroad] we didn’t win a single game. So that’s our only motivation in the series.