AP, Manchester :
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni wants his side to forget about the altercation between James Anderson and Ravindra Jadeja, after the International Cricket Council announced Wednesday it will not appeal the decision to exonerate Anderson of the level three charge of pushing and abusing Jadeja.
Speaking on the eve of the fourth test between the two sides at Old Trafford, Dhoni backed his players to focus only on taking a 2-1 lead in the series.
“It is really important not to drag one thing into another,” Dhoni said. “Irrespective of what has happened, in the last game we were only concentrating on cricket. Once you are a part of the Indian cricket team it is one thing that you learn to do very well because a lot of things keep floating around cricket.”
However, Dhoni reiterated his frustration that Jadeja was fined 50% of his match fee for “conduct contrary to the spirit of the game” after his involvement in the incident.
“It is very interesting what David Boon (of the elite panel of match referees) really found out on the basis of which he said Jadeja needs to be fined 50% of his match money,” Dhoni said.
His opposite number Alastair Cook defended Anderson, who could have been banned for four test matches, and does not believe he needs to tame his aggressive approach.
“There’s always that muddy line,” Cook said. “He needs that for his bowling. The way he bowled at Southampton (in the third test) was incredible.”
Anderson finished with match figures of 7-77 in the third match at the Rose Bowl, which England won by 266 runs for its first test victory in almost a year.
He is now only 12 wickets behind Ian Botham’s record England wicket tally of 383 and Cook believes Anderson will surpass that figure easily.
“I’m pretty sure he’ll be England’s leading wicket taker very soon,” Cook said. “That is an outstanding achievement. He is a very different personality when he crosses the line which I don’t think anyone should moan about. What happens on the field should stay on the field. He is the best English bowler I have seen.”
As well as victory at the Rose Bowl leveling the series 1-1, Cook finally found some form with the bat, contributing with scores of 95 and 70 not out.
But his wait for a century, which dates back to May 2013, continues and he admitted he still has work to do to reach the level he demands from himself. “It was great that I scored runs last week,” Cook said. “I want to be consistent and score big runs and I have got another opportunity to try and do that. We put a lot of wear and tear into India’s bowlers in that game and that is how you win test series.”
