MS Dhoni
India’s captain, M.S.Dhoni has said that the Indian side needed to do much better in their bowling and fielding if they wanted to win matches more consistently. He also said that he was concerned about the bowling during the middle and end overs, whereas after having done well in patches, the side needed to do well more consistent.
Fielding has been India’s main concern on a more war-footing basis. There were many lapses on the field during the recently concluded Compaq Cup tri-series, and this included ground fielding, catching and missing run out chances. There were many misfields, coupled with dropped chances in the finals, while three run-out chances – including one from Dhoni himself – were missed. Dhoni also squandered a stumping chance.
Dhoni said, “We need to raise our fielding standards. It has gone down a bit for whatever reason. It has proved costly more often not. We are missing run-out opportunities and have dropped a few catches which could prove costly in any game. We are a bit concerned. Even our ground fielding, especially the boundary fielders, can make it hard for the opponents to get those extra runs.”
Dhoni also said that despite having won six successive series in the past, it was no use thinking about it in the future. Especially when the tournament is a one like the Champions Trophy, which consists of eight very good side; three of which are in India’s group. India will begin their campaign against Pakistan in a tournament that they haven’t reached the semi-finals of in the last two editions. The one before that had seen them share the trophy.
Dhoni also said that the short ball was not a major concern in South Africa because in the fifty overs format it was very different from the T20s. In the longer format, they could wait out before throwing their bats around, and this would help them in the tournament. He also said that a player like Rahul Dravid, who has been quite adept at handling the shorter balls, would be batting at the number three spot and would do well to face up to the quick bowling.
Dhoni was particularly happy with the return of Gautam Gambhir as the opener, after he missed out on the tri-series due to the groin strain. India had to make do with Dinesh Karthik in the first couple of games, while opening with Dravid in the finals.
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