By: BCCI
When India set South Africa a target of 248, few would have given the home team a chance to register a victory. But deep inside the team there was a belief that would later take them to a thrilling 22-run victory. Some disciplined bowling, shrewd captaincy and add to it noticeable electricity on the field meant India got their first win of the tour in emphatic fashion. If captain MS Dhoni led the way with an unbeaten 92 with the bat to give his bowlers something to bowl at, the bowlers replied their captain’s demands in kind.
It was a collective bowling effort on display; spinners Axar Patel and Harbhajan Singh struck at regular intervals while Mohit Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar backed their efforts sticking to their game plans with perfection. Axar was the pick of the bowlers claiming three big wickets at the top, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar played perfect foil to his efforts cleaning up the South Africa lower order.
After the win, the ecstatic medium pacer spoke to BCCI.TV about his side’s win, a contagious positive energy called MS Dhoni and the confidence the team carried with itself while defending a modest total.
South Africa 1-0 up; this ODI win has to be a very important one isn’t it?
This was a much needed and important win for us. When you are playing a side like South Africa and lose the first match of the series, you cannot afford to lose another one on the trot. We wanted to win this one badly and get equal on the board. Nowadays it is very rare in ODI cricket that you see a side defending a total close to just 250. Winning the game defending 250 is special. We are extremely happy after the win.
Tell us what was the talk in the dressing room once captain MS Dhoni walked back scoring an unbeaten 92*.
When MS Dhoni walked into the dressing room after playing that knock, he just brought in a positive vibe with him. We as a team just believed that we could defend this total. The talk amongst ourselves was that ‘250 is a tricky score and we have to bowl well to win this match’. We did exactly that and we will remain positive in the coming matches as well.
Did the captain give the bowlers a feel of how the pitch was playing; especially after he had batted till the end of the innings?
The pitch wasn’t very easy to bat on and was keeping a bit slow; it was also a bit double faced in phases. Even our tail-enders had played close to 25-30 balls and as bowlers we did have an idea as to how the pitch was playing. Since all the bowlers had a bit of a bat in the middle, they knew what kind of lines and lengths to bowl at. The bowlers then came back strong and stuck to the plans and executed it well.
How crucial does the fielding become while defending such a target?
While defending a total of around 250 it is very important that your fielding is up to the mark. As a team you need to get an energy on the field that lifts up the whole side. Saving 10-15 runs on the field makes a huge difference to the end result. Even a total of 247 begins to look like 270. The entire team today fielded their hearts out and there was some quality catching on display tonight. We had some outstanding catches being taken; some of them were real beauties.
Did bowling plans differ when the South African tail was batting?
Even when we had just two wickets to pick, the game was still in a 50-50 position. But the key to getting wickets was patience. We wanted to put a tab on the flow of runs and keep them restricted and get the ball to run margin close. We knew if we landed the ball in the right areas we could get them out.
You haven’t been amongst the wickets of late, but how much of confidence do you take from this performance?
I am very confident about my bowling at the moment. As a bowler there are times when you do not get wickets and you don’t have the numbers to show against your name. But never has the thought crossed my mind that I am not a confident bowler and the wickets are not coming my way. If you are confident you will end up getting wickets at the end of the day which is exactly what happened tonight. I did not get wickets at the start of the innings but we knew that if there were a few quick blows, South Africa would find it difficult to chase the total down. I was extremely confident of picking wickets when the game was well poised and heading towards a tight finish. It was all about being patient and bowling well which would get me wickets.
You have added a few extra yards of pace to your bowling. Have you made a conscious effort of achieving that? Do you feel you are missing a bit of swing because of it?
I believe I still swing the ball; but as a bowler you also need conditions to assist your swing bowling. If there is someone who is able to swing the ball, I believe I have it in me to swing it a bit more than the other bowler. But I also need a bit of assistance from the conditions to swing the ball. I have not intentionally tried to gain pace in my bowling. It is something that has developed with time.
Finally; a word on the captain’s knock; truly leading by example.
(Smiles) This is not the first time that our captain has single handedly led the way. He has been doing it for many years now and we have always seen over the years that he always comes out on top when the team is in such a difficult situation. He has always made it a point to take the team to a good total and won us games. You need a batsman like him who bats long and also carries the tail-enders and gives them the confidence to bat well. We are lucky that we are playing under him and learning a lot from him.
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