Toughest tour of my career: Dhoni

Toughest tour of my career: Dhoni

With his injury-ravaged team down in the dumps with back-to-back defeats and some key players including himself experiencing indifferent form, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh conceded that the current England Test series is one of the most difficult tours of his career. 

"If you consider injuries, fitness, form, everything, there are quite a few things to worry about. It's difficult to recall (any other) but it's among the most difficult tours (I've been involved in)," he told a press conference ahead of the third Test starting here from Wednesday. 

The tour has placed extraordinary demands on the mental faculties of Indian cricketers, more so on Dhoni who has been on the road for almost a year and who has the added responsibility of keeping and leading the side. 

"More than that, it's the physical aspect. However, more and more you play, the more experienced to you get to train your mind to get out of it; the measures what needs to be done. 

"Of course, it's not easy. There are different ways for different individuals. Some prefer to have extra nets while others prefer to take mind off cricket. It's what suits an individual," he said. 

He did not outrightly reject the idea of fielding four medium pacers on a green track at Edgbaston in the third Test. 

"The wickets so far haven't assisted spinners. It pushes us to think if we can play four fast bowlers. The slow over-rate doesn't bother us, what's important is we select the eleven suited to the track," said the Indian captain. 

India presently have four fit medium-pacers in Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar and Munaf Patel. RP Singh, the replacement for Zaheer Khan, is yet to join the squad which actually restricts the options for the tourists. 

The Indian skipper said his team was not worried about the rankings. 

"We don't talk much about ratings," Dhoni said. "I've said in the last two years, ratings are not what are important for us. 

"What we concentrate on is the kind of cricket we are playing so we try to break the sessions into smaller sessions not look five days ahead as to what may be the result. 

"What's important for us is how you go about doing stuff in the first hour. We know the small things that matter and we will try to stick to that." 

Dhoni also added that Virender Sehwag will play in the Test. 

"He (Sehwag) is practising every day, which means he's available for selection and I can see no good reason why he shouldn't play," Dhoni said. 

"He's a very dynamic player who backs his instinct to play shots, irrespective of which bowler he's facing. He believes more in looking at the ball and just giving it the treatment it deserves. 

"We all know an aggressive opener can have a very big impact on the opposition bowling attack -- so he's a very good player to have in the side."