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Colombo: Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Friday blamed the spinners’ inability to grip the wet ball and not enough runs to defend as reasons behind India’s humiliating loss to Australia in the World T20 Super Eights game.
At a press conference, he pointed out the horses-for-courses policy while explaining the decision to leave out Virender Sehwag and play five bowlers.
The following are excerpts
The reasons behind the loss
We shouldn’t go with emotions, but go into the reasons behind the loss. The spinners had a wet ball and not enough runs. We should have bowled well. Hopefully, in the next two matches, we’ll get a chance to express ourselves.
Going in with five bowlers
We went in with five bowlers because in the last match against England they bowled very well. But the conditions were very different today… It rained during the break and also during the innings… They took a light roller and the wet ball made it tough for the spinners. They couldn’t have a real grip on the ball and couldn’t exert the desired pressure… We should also have got more runs… We lost wickets at regular intervals and that made the task difficult. We were looking to defend a target of around 150-160, but that didn’t happen.
Not including Virender Sehwag in the XI
I don’t like to take individual names, but we had two options before us today. The spinners have been doing well in this tournament and it was a case of horses-for-courses policy. It’s tough to reason, but we went with what suited the conditions.
If Rohit Sharma’s dismissal showed a lack of technique
Frankly, I’m not good at techniques… You’ve seen my technique too… (Laughs) But I thought it was a great delivery from Mitchell Starc.
Irfan Pathan not opening the bowling
Zak (Zaheer Khan) is our main bowler and has been bowling well… His record against the two openers is also very good. We were looking for wickets and with the target we were defending, early wickets were needed. It was important to get the openers out cheaply. So…
On there being too many chopping and changing in the side unlike what happens in the IPL
We have to look at the best possible XI… The conditions are different and the wicket has become slow compared to the last time we were here. In IPL, we have a fixed set of individuals playing. There’s no scope for too many changes… Here the most important thing is to strike the right balance.
On the remaining matches being must-win ties
It’s always good to be in a situation where we’ve got to win every match. There will be no chance for complacency now. We have to be at our best throughout and choose your best side. We’ve to choose which individual suits the team best.
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