Dhoni blames illness for Tendulkar's low performance at Lord's

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has claimed illness behind the low returns on Sachin Tendulkar’s performance on the fifth day of first test match. The England Vs India four Test-series is getting more and more dramatic since India has lost the match on fifth day of first test.

There were high hopes that Sachin will score his 100th international ton in this match but his bat failed to work. There are reasons for this failure as he was struck down by a viral infection which forced him to spend the fourth day off the field and that meant he had to bat out of position in India's second innings.

Dhoni has claimed, “He was much better (Monday) but I wouldn't say he was like 100 percent fit. But in both innings he really felt it, especially after the first innings when he felt quite weak. That was one of the main reasons he didn't turn up on the field in the first half of the second innings. He's much better right now but of course not 100 percent”.

Andrew Strauss said, “I am never going to question the way he approaches his innings. He was obviously trying to salvage a draw out of the game for India. He tried his hardest to do that and thankfully Jimmy was good enough to get him out lbw”.

Well, there are four matches to go Sachin!