By: BCCI
After the loss in the first T20I, few would have expected India to get bundled out for under 100 in the second T20I. To make matters worse, India lost two of their prime batsmen to run-outs (Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma) even as the rest of the batsmen found it difficult to get going. India captain MS Dhoni was aware of the fact that losing batsmen to run-outs and the rest of them in quick succession were the two aspects that put the team on the backfoot.
“If you see, in the last game we batted really well. There were two areas we wanted to address, one was the run-out and second was not to lose wickets in quick succession. Unfortunately, in this game those were the two things that pushed us on the backfoot. There were two instances when we lost wickets in quick succession. Also, the pitch was slightly difficult to bat on.”
When asked if India lacked that firepower at the top and needed the top order to bat with a lot of freedom, Dhoni said, “Most of our batsmen play quite the same way in the T20s and the fifty over format. That is what their strength is. All of a sudden we can’t ask people to play the sort of game that is not really their strength. I feel we have been doing well. Consistently we have put par scores on the board giving enough runs to the bowlers to bowl which is good enough.”
Elaborating further on his batsmen’s proven abilities in the past Dhoni explained, “At times we have seen that we have chased scores that were really big. Not to forget, last time we played Australia in India, there were a couple of times in the series that we had to chase 350 runs. Our strength is playing proper cricketing shots and I feel it is quite good the way the batsmen have responded when it comes to consistency. On and off in one off T20s we have seen performances like this. Every year we at least have one performance where we are not up to the mark. Maybe this is the performance and we will play freely in the next games. We don’t need to worry about what is left in the tournament and carry that momentum into the ODI series.”
One major positive that India could take from the loss in the T20Is was the impressive show of the spinners. R Ashwin was outstanding in his four-over spell picking up the top three of the South African batsmen. Harbhajan Singh was economical and Axar Patel who was introduced later into the attack picked up a wicket. For Dhoni, spin had always been the team’s biggest positive and his spinners had enough experience to exploit the conditions on offer.
“If you see spinners have been our strength. I don’t think there was a lot of assistance for them on this pitch, but they have got the experience to use the bounce and during times when the wicket is keeping low. They quickly pick what length to bowl which makes it slightly more difficult for the batsmen to score. I feel that is one of the main reasons why our spinners got wickets in this game also. They have been our strength so there was no doubt that they would do well.
“At times we get a bit worried when there is a lot of dew during this time of the year. We do get venues where we get a lot of dew and that is the time when the toss becomes very vital. It gets difficult for the spinners to bowl especially when it comes to the longer format or if the dew is too much. In Dharamsala we had the problem of the ground also being small so we couldn’t play with that extra spinner. But overall if you see spinners have been our strength and to some extent we have struggled when the spinners have not done well.”
With the series lost already and the team moving to Kolkata next for the final T20I, Dhoni believed the team would be looking to grab a win under their belt and play with a lot more freedom. “Putting up a better performance will be our main aim. The good thing with the T20s is that we have played a couple of games and will play one more before the start of the ODIs. We will try to get the most out of it and see what is the best combination for the ODIs.”
