With the three-wicket loss to England in Perth, India now go into the World Cup without a single win under their belt this tour of Australia. What let them down in this match was something that captain MS Dhoni has been concerned about during the whole tri-series – their batting.
After the opening stand of 83 runs between Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane, India lost eight wickets for 82 runs before the last wicket partnership of 35 got them to 200. Even as the bowlers – backed by some superb fielding – got the team close, eventually it was too low a total to defend and England finished off the game with 11 balls to spare and qualified for the final against Australia on Sunday.
At the end of the game, Dhoni once again put it down to lack of partnerships in the middle order. He said it was a “pattern” that the team needs to get rid of, and soon. “If you see the pattern the ODIs, in New Zealand and here, the middle order has been losing too many wickets in quick succession, which means there is too much pressure on the batsmen who are at the crease,” Dhoni said.
“You may say it is a bit of pattern, which we need to change to some extent. And we should be able to do that with this break over here and a bit more time to think about the game. I think the guys will come back strong.”
Now that India are out of the final, they have about a week’s break before they regroup in Adelaide for their first World Cup warm-up match. During this time, Dhoni said, he wants his team to switch off from cricket completely and rejuvenate their minds. “Not only me (who needs this break) but everybody. (We’ll just) lock the kitbag and keep it somewhere. You don’t even want to see it. Completely switch off from cricket.
“Because we have been here for more than two months, we know the conditions pretty well. What is important right now is a break. Completely switch off from the cricket. Just do a bit of thinking on what needs to be done,” he said.
As has been his common restraint throughout the series, Dhoni said that while their aim was to win this series, it was also vital to make sure that all 15 players go into the World Cup fully fit. India were without Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja for the best part of the tri-series and Rohit Sharma missed the last two matches due to a soar hamstring.
“To win and carry the momentum (into the World Cup) is very crucial but before that what’s important is all the 15 guys are fit,” he said. “In this series not all 15 were fit. Getting into a tournament like the World Cup, it’s important that all of them have some kind of games behind them.
“Now in the coming games also, in the warm-up games, we will try to give as many people chances as possible so that we get a look at the conditions they may face and what the opposition is.”
Dhoni stressed on the importance of giving every member of the squad, especially the youngsters, enough matches going into the big tournament so as to prepare them for the pressures of the highest level.
“With Bhuvi struggling a bit, it just puts that added pressure on the bowling line-up because frankly we can’t really afford to play with three fast bowlers and two spinners because our batting becomes just too light for it.
“With the kind of batsmen that we have, we know they can bat but how they bat at the first-class level is not how they will bat at the international level. That’s why we gave Jadeja ample time and now slowly he has graduated to that level where he can do that job to some extent.
“Axar, we know he can bat and with more exposure and more matches, he will get better because international cricket is very different compared to the first-class level that we play at. We need to get our batting strong,” Dhoni said.
One crucial member of the team who hasn’t had any limited overs matches under his belt on this tour is Ishant. He missed the first two matches with an injured ankle and he didn’t bowl in the Sydney ODI which was abandoned due to rain. Explaining Ishant’s omission from the Perth ODI, Dhoni said the pacer had done in his knee while bowling in the nets.
“You know he bowled in the nets, and after that he had a sore knee because of the nets session,” Dhoni said. “This came to our notice by evening but it was too late for us to do anything. Also, we didn’t want to push him because if there is a niggle it may turn into an injury,” he said, adding that according to the team physio, Ishant should be fit in the next four days.
When a young team like this Indian team is, fails to win a single game on a two-month long tour, it can do a lot of damage to the players’ confidence. However, Dhoni said that this bunch is more than capable of handling the disappointment and bouncing back strongly from it.
“I think from the confidence point of view we are quite good. We have been in this situation before. We know how exactly it feels and how to overcome that feeling. We were able to overcome that in the England series when we came back strongly in the ODIs. It is something the boys know how to do,” the captain said.
By: BCCI
