Mahendra Singh Dhoni has admitted his team has been affected by the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
India skipper wants to put terrorist attacks behind him
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has admitted his team has been affected by the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, but that they are doing their best to focus on the upcoming Tests against England.
The country has been in mourning since the events of November 26, which left 181 dead and several of Mumbai's landmarks scarred, leaving the India captain in reflective mood.
"We had time with our families and that was the only good part about it," he said. "We were very sad about the incidents so the only good thing was we had time to spend with our families.
"We were not really thinking about cricket at that point in time because we were so sad about what happened. We were glued to the television and during that 70 hours I barely slept six hours in total.
"It is really tough to play now but the one good thing that happened was that we did not continue with the one-dayers. That was too close and emotions were low so it was good we didn't play them."
Focused on Test
He added that while he was pleased that England had decided to return for the Test series and had pledged half their match fees to help those affected by the attacks, he was focused on getting everything right for the first Test in Chennai.
"It was good on England's part to come for the Test series, but it doesn't really bother us - we need to concentrate on the areas where we need to do well," said Dhoni.
"As an Indian I am grateful to them for coming, but we're not really concentrating too much on that because we have an important series to play.
"The best we can do for India right now is to win this game of cricket - that is what we are here to do as professional cricketers."
Business
The players will be greeted by a battalion of security officers on the opening day of the first Test, but Dhoni re-inforced the view that his team must look after their own business.
"That's one area where as cricketers and as a team we don't have any control over," he admitted. "We don't control our security but the one thing we can control is being calm and composed and look after our cricket and preparation and our plans for the series.
"The amount of policeman around is nothing to do with us, we need to concentrate on the cricket. They are around to help us so it doesn't really bother us too much.
"England have had time off in between the two series and they must have planned a few things. We need to start from scratch again and we need to do the things we have done well in the one-day series and continue with them."
