“It was a difficult task in the sense that you didn’t know what you will get, especially with Ashwin and Umesh who have not played this format,” the Indian captain said after his team completed a five-wicket win. “With Ishant and Ojha, we knew that this is the level at which they will perform. It was good to see Ashwin bowl really well and it was good to see Ojha bowl well in the first innings, which was important because on the first day, it was a flat wicket and it was not easy to bowl on. “Then in the second innings, Ashwin did well. He did not get a lot out of the wicket but it was his variations that helped him. He was flighting the ball nicely and then he has the carom ball and the top-spinner.”

Asked how difficult it would be now for Harbhajan Singh to force his way back, Dhoni replied cryptically, “Let us see because Ashwin has played one game, Ojha has done well. Let us see how it goes.”Dhoni said this win was a hard-fought one.“If we had got the first-innings lead, then I would have thought it was a perfect way to start the series. We lacked a few things when we batted first but nothing we can put a finger on. The game was not easy -- there was nothing much for the bowlers in the pitch and there was nothing for the batsmen. It was a difficult game for everyone. If you see the scorecard you might think `the match got over in four days’ but it was a difficult game.”

Once again, the experienced middle-order came to the party, “In the last innings, they played well,”Dhoni acknowledged. “It was a wicket where if a batsman got out, then from outside you will think it was not a delivery to which a batsman should have got out. There were many leg before, it was a different wicket,”