St Lucia, July 1: West Indian pace surprise Ravi Rampaul has found an admirer in Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has praised the right-armer for his ability to force mistakes from batsmen by consistently bowling in the right areas.

Rampaul returned career-best figures of 4/37 against India as West Indies beat India by eight wickets in Kingston to stay afloat in the four-match series currently tied 1-1. "Rampaul swings the ball really well, bowls in the right area, he forces you to play a big shot like the cover drive," Dhoni said ahead of the third one-dayer here on Friday.

Rampaul’s spell left India tottering at 82/8 after they won the toss and batted first, but Dhoni hit a responsible 95 to lift his side to 188 all out.

Dhoni said lack of assistance from the pitch in Kingston makes Rampual and fellow pacer Jerome Taylor’s performance all the more creditable. "I don’t think there was that much in (the pitch) for the bowlers," Dhoni said.

"They bowled really well, they were swinging the ball well and, when it stopped swinging, they were able to get reverse swing," he added.

The 24-year-old Rampaul, who has been hampered by multiple injuries in his career, the Kingston performance has given him confidence for the future. "A performance like this has really helped me to come back and play international cricket and improve my confidence a lot," Rampaul said.

"I have been working hard in trying to make back the team and I felt good bowling. I got a bit of swing with the new ball and picked up a couple of wickets, it was a good return to international cricket."

— PTI