Call it bowling carnage, slaughter or massacre; you will run out of adjectives if you were to describe South Africa’s batting display at the Wankhede Stadium. Fans who had turned out in numbers on a glowing Sunday afternoon were treated in kind with not one but three outstanding centuries from the South African dugout. The Indian bowling looked haywire as all bowlers went for plenty. India captain MS Dhoni even joked in the post match press conference that the entire game went wrong after having conceded 400 plus. Summing up the situation, Dhoni said, “We can say that we bowled quite short and gave too much width to the batsmen. The game was still under control till the 20th-25th over, but after that they started to accelerate, and started scoring at more than 10 runs every over.”
Dhoni was also of the view that once the 400 barrier had been broken, chasing it down was always going to be a herculean task. “Till 350, you can be optimistic. We have chased it down, and we can fight it out. But after that level, even an increase of 10 runs puts a lot of pressure.
South Africa batted really well in this match and chasing 438 was very difficult. We wanted to go after the target, but also take some time in the middle. Partnerships were important and the only way to chase down that much would have been by batting 50 overs. But chasing 438, we had to be very optimistic.”
But was it India’s poor bowling or just pure batting brilliance from South Africa that let them score more than 400? Dhoni reckoned the pitch had a huge role to play in it. “It was a true batting pitch. It was a very good batting pitch. There was no turn for the spinners. You rarely see everybody in a bowling unit going for runs. Our pacers went for runs and our spinners went for runs. There was not much on offer for our bowlers and that was the reason once they got the partnership going and it was very difficult for us to try and stop boundaries. Almost all strategies were used but there are days when it doesn't work. Also, when the pitch is true and they have that kind of a partnership, it will be very difficult to stop the opposition.”
When asked if the team was missing a strike bowler who could keep getting wickets at different stages of the game, Dhoni answered, “If you see even South Africa they haven't got a lot of wickets with the new ball. The ability to strike in the middle overs is very crucial. That's also the reason why we go with three spinners. We know they may go for runs, but it is our best combination. We are playing with our best two fast bowlers that we have got. If they are finding it difficult, then getting in a third seamer will put a lot of pressure. Till we find an ideal individual to do the job, this is the composition we have to look at. The sooner we get those individuals, the easier it will be for us to keep performing consistently.”
India last lost an ODI series against Bangladesh and have suffered yet another series defeat, this at home having lost the T20 and ODI series against South Africa. With a string of series losses under their belt, India would be looking to put a lot of thought in their limited overs setup with respect to team combinations. Dhoni realised the importance of addressing the issues as soon as possible. “I think first and foremost, as a leader, you have to realize and know the things that are going wrong. If you don't know the problems, then it is very difficult to find the solution.
It may be the bowling, batting or partnerships during the middle overs. If you break it down to small sections, it does help you and it makes addressing the problems a lot easier. We have been struggling with a seaming all-rounder. Even when the conditions are slightly in our favour, we have struggled. Our lower order batting is slightly on the lighter side when it comes to playing against good fast bowlers. It puts pressure on the top six batsmen. You can't rely too much on the lower order. You have to see what the best bowling combination is but not at the cost of being too light when it comes to batting. We have to address these problems.”
