Early breakthroughs cost us: Dhoni
First Published : 19 Feb 2012, 17:59
Last Modified : 19 Feb 2012, 18:17
Brisbane, Feb 19: Chasing 289 on a bouncy pitch, India were once again let down by their top-order. Ever since India were left tottering on 82 for the loss of five wickets, the result was inevitable, despite another good fight from skipper MS Dhoni. Outplayed by Australia at The Gabba today, India gear up for their next match, against Sri Lanka, here on Tuesday. Skipper MS Dhoni, who put up a valiant 84-ball 56, reflected on the loss in a brief interview with the media.
Excerpts from Dhoni’s media interaction:
On putting up a lone fight
It was a difficult one because once the opposition scores close to 280-290-odd runs, getting off to a good start [is important]. If you don’t score at a very brisk pace but have wickets in hand, you can be around in the middle overs. Once you have that kind of platform, you can look to accelerate in the last few overs. But they got early breakthroughs and that really put pressure on us. Once you are in that kind of scenario, [the] run-rate only goes up and it’s very difficult to bring it down. The really important thing was the early breakthroughs.
On the batting failure
It happens at times because people often think about the asking rate. But it is important to think about the asking rate because the game has changed a bit [with] two new balls [being used]; it has an impact on the game. You have to give a bit more respect initially [to the new ball] and pick the balls that you want to score off. With two new balls it becomes a bit easy in the middle overs. Once they lose their sheen, [the balls] don’t do much. It comes on to the bat nicely and on the big outfields over here, it becomes a bit easy to take doubles and three runs. So you have to plan it out.
On dropping Michael Hussey and conceding hundred runs in the last 10 overs
Yes, in the last 10 overs the execution was not there but I felt that the bowlers got bothered by the heat a lot. A few of my main bowlers who bowled really well from the 40th to the 50th over were getting cramps. It did affect their execution to some extent but hopefully we will execute better in the next game.
On whether the exposure to the bouncy pitch today would help them in the next match against Sri Lanka
It will be slightly on the slower side, but at The Gabba there is still a bit of bounce for the bowlers. If you bowl the right line, it becomes a bit difficult for the batsmen to score runs freely. I think it will be good game and both sides will enjoy the wicket.
