MS Dhoni at loss to explain sorry defeat
1 Feb 2014 6:06 AM IST
‘All defeats are bad and at the end of the day you can’t really measure disappointment,’ said a philosophical Dhoni. Despite batting failures, he backed his batsmen but cautioned them about the need to learn and adapt their game.
‘We have invested a lot in our batting. It wasn’t a lack of experience because a lot of players in the side have played a lot of ODI cricket and most of them are batsmen. But New Zealand executed their plans very well and whatever we tried, chasing or batting first, it didn’t work. So now it is up to our batsmen to improvise and adapt and bring in a positive attitude,’ he said.
‘After one season, once you become a settled side the opposition starts planning against each and every batsman and that has been the case all over the world. Fresh questions are asked and the batsmen are talented enough to get out of it. But they will need to put in a lot of effort in the practice sessions and mentally make their plans, what they need to do once they go into the game,’ he added. Dhoni also said his team has the talent to rise to the challenge. ‘I am hoping with the kind of talent they have, the amount of games that they have played they will come out of it and that will be a big positive for us,’ Dhoni said, outlining this poor performance as a bad phase for the team.
‘Throughout this series, they (New Zealand) have played very good cricket. Their new ball pair has been very good but where they’ve taken the game away is in the middle overs batting which set up their charge late in the innings, picking up 80-90 runs consistently,’ Dhoni said after the 87-run drubbing on Friday.
‘We have invested a lot in our batting. It wasn’t a lack of experience because a lot of players in the side have played a lot of ODI cricket and most of them are batsmen. But New Zealand executed their plans very well and whatever we tried, chasing or batting first, it didn’t work. So now it is up to our batsmen to improvise and adapt and bring in a positive attitude,’ he said.
‘After one season, once you become a settled side the opposition starts planning against each and every batsman and that has been the case all over the world. Fresh questions are asked and the batsmen are talented enough to get out of it. But they will need to put in a lot of effort in the practice sessions and mentally make their plans, what they need to do once they go into the game,’ he added. Dhoni also said his team has the talent to rise to the challenge. ‘I am hoping with the kind of talent they have, the amount of games that they have played they will come out of it and that will be a big positive for us,’ Dhoni said, outlining this poor performance as a bad phase for the team.
‘Throughout this series, they (New Zealand) have played very good cricket. Their new ball pair has been very good but where they’ve taken the game away is in the middle overs batting which set up their charge late in the innings, picking up 80-90 runs consistently,’ Dhoni said after the 87-run drubbing on Friday.
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