Dhoni hails Ishant's superb effort

Melbourne, Feb 10 (UNI) Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni lauded India's find of the series - Ishant Sharma - who was the catalyst in the visitor's five-wicket victory over World Champions Australia here today.

''He (Sharma) was the pick of the bowlers in the Test series.

He was impressive, so I gave the new ball to him and he responded well,'' Dhoni said after the match and added, ''He started off brilliantly.'' The 19-year-old Delhite was given the new ball and responded his captain's call superbly as he claimed four wickets for 38 runs at the MCG today.

''In the last few games we have given him the semi-new ball but we gave him the new ball here because he has been our best bowler recently,'' he added.

However, the tall lanky pacer insisted that he just stuck to the basics and tried to bowl a good line and length and left the rest to the pitch.

''When I am bowling, I just try and put it in the right areas,'' Sharma said.

''I don't think about the batsman's strengths, just mine. I stick to my strengths and I have got the results,'' he added.

The Indian captain also backed his decision to send Irfan Pathan one down which eventually did not pay off.

''The pitch was on the slower side. So we thought to use Irfan (Pathan) later and he was good in the middle overs,'' Dhoni added.

Dhoni, who partnered Rohit Sharma in a crucial 58-run stand said after losing five wickets for 102 they were waiting for the part-time bowlers to come on.

''We were waiting for the part-timers to come. The kind of conditions we were in, we thought our chance would come and we should wait for the right moment,'' he said.

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