Now with the five-wicket win in the third ODI on Thursday, India have not only sealed the five-match series but are confidently moving towards a whitewash of England but revenge is the last word in Dhoni's mind.
'Revenge is a very strong word when it comes to sport. I don't think it should be used in sport. On one side we are speaking about spirit of the game and on the other side we are talking about revenge,' Dhoni said at the post-match press conference.
Dhoni lauded his young team for putting up a terrific show against a strong England side in the absence of a couple of senior players due to injuries.
'I am quite happy with the performance of the team when it comes to the ODI format. In England, we made lots of runs, it's just that we never won the toss and had to bowl last. On a couple of occasions, rain and dew factor played spoilsport.
'Here the conditions are in our favour. The bowlers are used to the conditions and bowling really well. So it's a positive sign,' Dhoni said.
The Indian skipper said he would keep on promoting young batsmen up the order until they get settled in the team.
'I always felt that it's important for the youngsters to bat up the order. What's important is to groom the youngsters. They should be batting more than 20 overs. When they become regular part of the side, then we can experiment with them a bit,' the Indian skipper said.
'When it comes to batting at no 6 and 7, it's completely different task. Don't forget that the youngsters who were being promoted, are scoring runs. We were missing couple of players because of injuries so no point in thinking about them. We tried to groom the youngsters,' said Dhoni.
Asked about tight finish in yesterday's match, Dhoni said one more wicket could have changed the complexion of the game.
'It's not that I don't show expressions, I always show expressions. It was a close game we should have won easily but we lost wickets in the middle. All of a sudden there was pressure on us. If we would have lost one more wicket it could have been a little difficult to achieve the target,' he said.
'We knew that with me and Jadeja around we can achieve the target. And the dew factor also made it slightly difficult for the bowlers to reverse the ball and bowl yorkers.'
He also had a word of advise for the visiting England side for the remaining two inconsequential matches.
'It's important to be nice to your opposition team. When you are under pressure you will definitely commit mistakes. England have five specialist bowlers. As far as talent is concerned, they are a very good side but they need to stick together in the next two games,' he said.
Dhoni also hinted that with the series already in pocket, India might test its bench strength in the next two matches.
'We will see exactly what to do. We are not sure as of now. The team management will sit and take a call. But Umesh (Yadav) got injured so he is out and one of the bowlers will get a chance. At the end of the day we have to field the best eleven,' he said.
'We are backing ourselves to chase any total' Dhoni praised his top-order batsmen for taking the home side to a series-clinching five-wicket victory.
'I think it was a very good performance. The middle-order did not bat so well but the upper middle order did the job for us. The openers batted really well. Ajinkya Rahane and Gautam Gambhir set the platform with their partnership,' said Dhoni after the match.
'The way Rahane batted along with Gambhir in the middle after the start was crucial. We lost wickets at the wrong time though, and we had to get another partnership going. They batted really well,' the skipper added.
After Rahane (91) and Gambhir (58) laid a solid foundation, Dhoni (35 not out off 31) and Ravindra Jadeja (26 not out off 24) provided the finishing touches, adding 65 runs for the unseparated sixth-wicket stand to seal the match in India's favour at the PCA stadium.
Dhoni said the bowling department still needs to improve as all the Indian bowlers bled runs on Thursday barring left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja.
'We gave away too many boundaries and an opportunity to the opposition to score near 300-plus score. We gave away a few too many boundaries with the ball. We still need to improve,' he said.
'We are backing ourselves to chase whatever the opposition scores, and we have been doing that,' he added.
England captain Alastair Cook admitted that his team's close defeat was hard to swallow.
'It's a tough defeat to take especially when the game was so close. Our fielding has been slightly below par, which is unusual for us, and today it cost us 20 to 25 runs in the field and that made the difference between the two sides,' he said.
'Six an over is always a tough chase, but credit to the way Dhoni and Jadeja finished that off,' Cook added.
Man-of-the-match Ajinkya Rahane said he was determined to perform well in this match after failing to do much with the bat in the last few one-dayers.
'Last few games were not good for me and I was determined to do well in this game. The partnership between me and Gambhir was very crucial and we just waited for the loose deliveries to come. I played my natural game, backed myself and enjoyed my game,' he said.
