Domestic circuit not producing enough finished products: Dhoni

Perth, Jan 11: Indian limited-overs cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Monday said the domestic circuit was not producing enough finished product as it used to some time back.

Comparing the Indian situation to the Australian setup, Dhoni said that was where the difference lay between the two countries.

"What makes life easy for an intertiol team is the kind of domestic cricket (they have)... if you see the Australian first-class cricket, it is very good, which means the players who come up from the ranks of domestic cricket or first-class cricket have already got good exposure of playing cricketers who have played intertiol cricket or are playing intertiol cricket at that point of time.

"I feel that way Australian cricket is blessed," Dhoni told media persons here on the eve of the first One Day Intertiol (ODI) between the visitors and Australia.

"As far as the newcomers are concerned, we will definitely feature them and see where they stand. Also, we have to slightly get ahead of time. If you see Indian cricket, more often than not, we are used to getting the complete product.

"Right from the late 1980s onwards, we have got cricketers who were ready to play intertiol cricket. Once they made their debut they were there for like 10 to 15 years. I think the trend is changing slowly," he added.

The 2011 World Cup winner stressed the fact that the Indian team magement was now keen on grooming players and did not have the luxury of picking a complete product who can come in and deliver from the very first match.

"Even if you see the batsmen nowadays, they have been part of the side for quite some time and we have had to groom them. I feel the same applies to the bowlers. We may not have the luxury of just picking up the complete product to come into intertiol cricket and start delivering from the very first game," he said.

"It is important to identify talent and at the same time give them games quite quickly so that they get that exposure of intertiol cricket. And we also get to see how they handle pressure and the areas where they need to improve."

Dhoni also said that the visitors were likely to go in with three pace bowlers in the first ODI here at the bouncy Western Australia Cricket Association (WACA) track on Tuesday.

"Most likely it will be three-two (quickies-spinners)," he said.

"Because we don't really have a seaming allrounder so most likely it will be a three-two combition. That most likely means Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, and a possible debut for Barinder Sran."

Australia, on the other hand, have already announced their playing XI, and it includes five quick bowlers. Dhoni said the hosts could do it because they have seaming all-rounders. IANS