Happy with overall performance: MS Dhoni
First Published : 03 Oct 2012, 00:58
Last Modified : 03 Oct 2012, 00:58
Colombo, Oct 2: India won a thrilling contest against South Africa in the last game of the Super Eights of the 2012 ICC World Twenty20. However, MS Dhoni’s men still failed to qualify for the semi-finals. Apart from their loss against Australia, the Men in Blue performed well to win four out of their five games. The Indian skipper acknowledged his team’s efforts and was proud of their overall performance in the tournament.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, Dhoni discussed his team’s run in the 2012 ICC World T20 and talked about areas they need to work on in the shortest format of the game.
Excerpts:
On winning against SA but not making it to the semi-finals
A bit disappointed, because the last three games that we played in the Super Eights, we played them really well. In the game against Australia it rained and there was nothing much that the bowlers could have done. If you take that game out [of the equation], they performed brilliantly after that in the next two games. There were ups and downs. We can’t really have control over how the other teams are performing and what impact they are having on our status in the tournament. So, overall if you just see the performance, I am happy. I can proudly say that the boys did quite well.
On what Team India could have done better today
There were instances where we could have scored a few more runs; may be put 10 or 15 runs more on the board. I felt we lost too many wickets early on. Especially in the first ten overs, we were three down or four down; so we were not really in a position to capitalise from the 10th to the 15th over. I personally feel that we are side that depends on a good platform. Even if we are three down at the end of the 10th over or 12th over, we can take the advantage of that kind of start. If at the end of the 15th over we are in a good position with five or six wickets in hand, we have hitters who can put 10-15 runs more than other sides. But we were not really able to do that in this tournament. But overall, I am quite happy with the performance.
On whether Zaheer Khan and R Ashwin should have bowled when South Africa were getting close to the 122-run mark
At that time I felt it was good to attack with fast bowlers. The ball was swinging a bit and I personally felt that if we can get through the first six overs, we can look to attack. Because we have a part-timer and this was not a wicket that was spinning a lot. So, there was no point using all your trump cards up front and then saying, ‘If we had a bit more bowling from this particular bowler it would have helped.’ So, first and foremost we tried to win by not letting them score 121-odd runs. But once they had those runs, it was important to win this game. That is where R Ashwin came in to play later on in the game.
On areas that Team India needs to work on
We have not really clicked as team and by that what I mean is that the bowling, batting and fielding has not done really well in one single game. We have batted and bowled brilliantly in patches. But once you come to a stage where you are playing top sides, you have to do well in all the departments at the same time in that particular game. That has not really clicked for us. This is also a format where if you have one off day, you are out of the tournament. I am happy with the performance, especially in this tournament. We won quite a few games. For the one off game, I would really blame the rain. Overall, I am quite satisfied.
