Haven’t performed to potential: Dhoni
First Published : 26 Feb 2012, 17:39
Last Modified : 26 Feb 2012, 18:08
Sydney, Feb 26: India continued their poor form Down Under by losing their third consecutive match in the CB Series. The Aussies stole the show in Sydney with a domineering performance to book their place in the tri-series finals. A disappointed MS Dhoni was left to rue his side’s inability to score runs during the post-match presentation.
Excerpts:
On losing the match
I think we got off to a decent start but after that it was very difficult for us in between. I think [Virender] Sehwag bowled really well. Once [Irfan] Pathan got injured, we were in a difficult situation. Umesh [Yadav] went for a few runs in his initial spell, but it was good that he bowled eight or nine overs from one end and overall he kept it tight. I was quite happy [conceding] 250-odd runs; it seemed that they would score 270. We were happy at the end of the first innings, but in the second innings when we were batting, I think we left too many overs for the No. 7, 8 and 9 to score.
On the world champions playing poorly in the series
It’s not about the position in the rankings; you have to do well on the field. The fact is that we haven’t performed to the kind of potential we have got, especially in the ODI series over here. I think it was an ideal opportunity for all the youngsters to come over here and have a look at the venues. Difficult situations—they must have learned a lot out of this and that’s what we are expecting.
On why the tour hadn’t gone according to plan
We need to bat well. I can’t pinpoint one particular reason but we definitely need to put runs on the board. We lost all the tosses which means we had to bat under lights—slightly difficult compared to batting first, but overall I think we should have done better.
On the mathematical possibility of India qualifying for the finals
I am not really good at mathematics so I’ll stick to the cricket. Hopefully the scorers will do their job and let us know [what we need to do] before the start of the next game.
