Dhoni laments Sehwag's absence

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday rued the absence of Virender Sehwag for the first two Tests against England.

Dhoni exclaimed the opener is one of the few players in the world who could influence the outcome of a game in a big way.

Sehwag, included in the squad of 17, is recovering from an operation on his right shoulder and in his absence, young Chennai opener Abhinav Mukund will open the innings with Gautam Gambhir at least in the first two Tests.

"We, as a side, rely on our openers quite a bit. A good start helps our middle order capitalise on it. There aren't many cricketers in the world who impact a game like Sehwag does. We will miss him," Dhoni said as India open the tour with a three-day game against Somerset from Friday.

Dhoni insisted that it was important for the openers to stand up to possibly the best international attack in the world. The Test series will begin at Lord's from July 21.

"England is a very good side, they regularly get plenty of runs. They take 20 wickets. We have to be at our very best," he said.

The Indian captain did not allow himself to be weighed down by the fact that England, if winners by 2-0 in the series, could displace them as number one Test team in the world.

"The basis of sport is to enjoy it. A lot of times you don't enjoy sport while playing top class cricket. We don't want to get into it the ratings aren't that important," he said.

Dhoni was also not ready to be overwhelmed by England's strength and also looked at a few positives due in next few weeks.

"In West Indies, it was difficult to consistently score runs. Shot-playing wasn't that easy. It could be different here. You can play shots. The outfield surely will be 200 miles faster than in the Caribbean which can be a great help to score runs," he said.

Over the next five weeks, in the four Tests, Indians can be assured of a huge support in the stands by the massive Asian population in the country. Dhoni acknowledged it but didn't think it would be the determining factor.

"Crowd support can push bowlers and batters to do that bit extra but frankly it's up to 11 players playing the match.

The bench strength and the support staff."

Dhoni did not forget to express his sympathy with the victims fo the Mumbai blast and hoped the resilience of Mumbaikars would help them overcome this tragedy as well.

"It's a sad event. It would be sad even if it didn't happen in Mumbai. Hopefully they will be soon be back at their best since Mumbai has resilience."

Coach Duncan Fletcher was by the skipper's side and said he did not think he would come back to England in such a manner.

"Once I left England, I thought that's it. I did a bit of consultancy before the coaching bug bit me again. When this opportunity came along, I couldn't turn it down."

From his short stint with the Indians so far, Fletcher is impressed how too much cricket or lack of preparation isn't much of an issue with his players.

"They have played a lot of cricket. There is also a lot of cricket ahead. They played a Twenty20 game within hours of arrival in the West Indies, then a one-day game after two days. Still, the way Dravid and Laxman still prepare with intensity - they might have played a lot of cricket but they don't show it. It doesn't seem to be an issue with this Indian side.

"In West Indies, I have never been involved with those kind of wickets, really spicy wickets in Barbados, it seamed all five days. Yet the team won. It appeared in good space," he said.
Fletcher hinted if rules and conditions permitted, he would like to field more than 11 players in the three-day game against Somerset, beginning on Friday

He added: "We would like to play 13-a-side. Since this is the only first class game, the idea is to give practice to as many players as possible. But if there is a MoU against it, we would stick by it."