Adelaide (The Telegraph): The situation was almost same, but the result was different. Once again the Indians were involved in a last-over thriller, but unlike the last match, against Australia,Mahendra Singh Dhoni had to share points with Sri Lanka after their ODI tri-series tussle ended in a tie.
Dhoni hits the last ball of the ODI match against Sri Lanka in Adelaide. (Getty Images)
The India captain blamed it on his wrong call, which saw top-scorer Gautam Gambhir being run out, as the cause behind not winning the match.
The following are excerpts
Mahendra Singh Dhoni: I think, the wrong call cost us the game… I called Gautam (Gambhir) wrongly and he got run out. After that, it became very difficult for the new batsmen coming in… Because there was no real pace in the wicket. It became very difficult to rotate strike… You can play big strokes in between. But when you are chasing, you have to keep it in mind that if you play a big stroke and a wicket falls, it becomes really difficult.
I looked to stay till the end… I bat at No. 6 and there aren’t too many good batsmen to follow. If you find it difficult to score, there isn’t any reason why a lower-order batsman will find it easier, whatever type the wicket may be. It’s always important to stay till the end and get a decent partnership going… To win consistently, we need a batsman to bat till the end.
I was not in a hurry to finish the game in the 47th or 48th over. I am happy, if I can do it in the 50th over... I don’t have the luxury of batsmen behind me. I like to finish the job. It’s different with individuals. Some like to finish early, take risk and finish it off.
If you ask Viru paaji (Virender Sehwag), he would look to finish it off in 35 overs! He believes the ball is there to be hit. So, it’s a difference in perspective. There is nothing wrong between us.
Malinga is someone who is very consistent, and with his slingy action, it is very difficult to score runs off him. This is one of the reasons why we decided to go after Angelo Mathews in the penultimate over. We have seen whatever the condition of the ball — old or new — he executes it really well. Especially, for a lower-order batsman, he is a very difficult bowler to face. Thankfully, we got some runs off the Mathews over.
I didn’t really middle the last ball and I knew it was difficult to score a boundary. It was a slow outfield… In India, that would have been two bounces and four.
Sri Lanka are a really good side. They have quite a few good all-rounders. That gives them the options of quite a few bowlers. In slower tracks, even the part-time slower bowlers can bowl a few overs. And Malinga is always good… May be, they are not winning matches at the moment… But that doesn’t make them a weak side.
If you are there in these tight situations a few times, you get somewhat used to it. But being a human, you are bound to feel the pressure. When you need 10 or 12 in the last over, your heart rate will always go up. This is something you can’t avoid… But I try to keep things under control.
I’m going through a decent phase in the ODIs at the moment and so I’m trying to win as many matches for the side as possible. On the issue of Lasith Malinga bowling a delivery less in the 30th over, I must say, it’s done and dusted with. We can create a big fuss out of it but what’s the point? It’s like a controversy standing right on the edge...just about to happen. What’s the point as it’s a controversy which is right there and we don’t really want to get into anything like that...Hopefully, it won’t be repeated, not only
with us but not even with any other side.
Eric (Simons) understands each and every bowler. He knows what they speak and what they mean. They may sometimes say something and mean something. You can only understand, if the bowling coach has spent some time (with bowlers). Hopefully, the new bowling coach will also do a good job.
Mahela Jayawardene: It was going both ways… Probably last-ball tie shows that… And with MS (Dhoni) batting through the innings, it was always going to be a tough one. I think, we made a few mistakes, but I am happy to get two points in the end.
(In the last over it was), one ball, four to get… You have to back yourself. But we never had this game wrapped up… Probably 230-odd was never enough. We dropped catches, missed run outs… But we were still in the match. It was a great comeback from the boys, I must say. We can take the positives from it and fight for every point. We are losing by small margins… We are playing good cricket. I am sure a win will shift the momentum our way… Two-three wins and we will be right there.
Dhoni hits the last ball of the ODI match against Sri Lanka in Adelaide. (Getty Images)The India captain blamed it on his wrong call, which saw top-scorer Gautam Gambhir being run out, as the cause behind not winning the match.
The following are excerpts
Mahendra Singh Dhoni: I think, the wrong call cost us the game… I called Gautam (Gambhir) wrongly and he got run out. After that, it became very difficult for the new batsmen coming in… Because there was no real pace in the wicket. It became very difficult to rotate strike… You can play big strokes in between. But when you are chasing, you have to keep it in mind that if you play a big stroke and a wicket falls, it becomes really difficult.
I looked to stay till the end… I bat at No. 6 and there aren’t too many good batsmen to follow. If you find it difficult to score, there isn’t any reason why a lower-order batsman will find it easier, whatever type the wicket may be. It’s always important to stay till the end and get a decent partnership going… To win consistently, we need a batsman to bat till the end.
I was not in a hurry to finish the game in the 47th or 48th over. I am happy, if I can do it in the 50th over... I don’t have the luxury of batsmen behind me. I like to finish the job. It’s different with individuals. Some like to finish early, take risk and finish it off.
If you ask Viru paaji (Virender Sehwag), he would look to finish it off in 35 overs! He believes the ball is there to be hit. So, it’s a difference in perspective. There is nothing wrong between us.
Malinga is someone who is very consistent, and with his slingy action, it is very difficult to score runs off him. This is one of the reasons why we decided to go after Angelo Mathews in the penultimate over. We have seen whatever the condition of the ball — old or new — he executes it really well. Especially, for a lower-order batsman, he is a very difficult bowler to face. Thankfully, we got some runs off the Mathews over.
I didn’t really middle the last ball and I knew it was difficult to score a boundary. It was a slow outfield… In India, that would have been two bounces and four.
Sri Lanka are a really good side. They have quite a few good all-rounders. That gives them the options of quite a few bowlers. In slower tracks, even the part-time slower bowlers can bowl a few overs. And Malinga is always good… May be, they are not winning matches at the moment… But that doesn’t make them a weak side.
If you are there in these tight situations a few times, you get somewhat used to it. But being a human, you are bound to feel the pressure. When you need 10 or 12 in the last over, your heart rate will always go up. This is something you can’t avoid… But I try to keep things under control.
I’m going through a decent phase in the ODIs at the moment and so I’m trying to win as many matches for the side as possible. On the issue of Lasith Malinga bowling a delivery less in the 30th over, I must say, it’s done and dusted with. We can create a big fuss out of it but what’s the point? It’s like a controversy standing right on the edge...just about to happen. What’s the point as it’s a controversy which is right there and we don’t really want to get into anything like that...Hopefully, it won’t be repeated, not only
with us but not even with any other side.
Eric (Simons) understands each and every bowler. He knows what they speak and what they mean. They may sometimes say something and mean something. You can only understand, if the bowling coach has spent some time (with bowlers). Hopefully, the new bowling coach will also do a good job.
Mahela Jayawardene: It was going both ways… Probably last-ball tie shows that… And with MS (Dhoni) batting through the innings, it was always going to be a tough one. I think, we made a few mistakes, but I am happy to get two points in the end.
(In the last over it was), one ball, four to get… You have to back yourself. But we never had this game wrapped up… Probably 230-odd was never enough. We dropped catches, missed run outs… But we were still in the match. It was a great comeback from the boys, I must say. We can take the positives from it and fight for every point. We are losing by small margins… We are playing good cricket. I am sure a win will shift the momentum our way… Two-three wins and we will be right there.
No comments:
Post a Comment