Mirpur, Feb19: Having laid to rest the ghosts of the 2007 World Cup defeat against Bangladesh with a big win in the opening game of the 2011 edition, India skipper MS Dhoni was a happy man.
In a post-match media interaction he spoke about the game and his team’s fantastic performance with the bat and the ball.
Excerpts from the interaction
On whether he was happy with his team’s performance
[There are a] few departments where we need to improve. I think fielding is definitely one department where we need to contribute a bit more. Of course this was a bigger field compared to some of the fields that we are going to play [on] in the next few games. So it’s a big area of concern because we need to save runs - at least five to ten runs. All the good teams have a very good fielding side but at the end of the day when it comes to [our] performance [in] the skill department, batting and bowling, I think [it was] really [good]. The bowlers did their job, the conditions were not really in their favour, dew was there. The spinners had to fight it out. So I think overall it was quite a good performance by the team.
On the Sehwag-Kohli partnership
Well, of course that was important because when you have lost a couple of wickets it’s very important to stabilise the innings and they looked to go after the bowlers. In the afternoon I said the wicket was slightly on the slower side hence it would be slightly difficult for the new batsmen to get in and get going. So I think they carried their innings through and that’s one very major point. If you are in then you should bat till the end and that’s what [Virender] Sehwag did and he was equally well supported by Virat Kohli who looks in very good form. So overall [it was a] very good batting performance.
On the win giving the team some good momentum for the future games
I always say a lot depends on the kind of start you get. But after that everything starts from scratch. There are plenty of positives that you get out of the game but at the same time you learn quite a few things – [areas] where we need to improve and if [we] can, [avoid making] the mistakes that we have committed in the game or delay the mistakes then it’s very good for the side.
On the long break before the next game
As a team we fight injury so I would say it is good for the Indian cricket team because whatever niggles the bowlers or the batsman have got, they can fight it through with the physio [physiotherapist] and be hundred percent fit for the next game in six days’ time. Which means, more often than not, [the side] will feature the best players.
