Dhoni laments dropped catches, lauds batsmen

Mirpur (Bangladesh), March 21 (IANS) India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni lamented the dropped catches but lauded the batsmen for giving a winning start against Pakistan in the opening match of tournament proper of the World Twenty20 at the Shere Bangla National Stadium here Friday.

Virat Kohli remained unbeaten on 36 and Suresh Raina on 35 as India romped home safely with seven wickets in hand and nine balls to spare while chasing a small target of 131.

Leggie Amit Mishra picked up two for 22 and was adjudged as the Man of the Match for his miserly act with the ball. But the credit must also go to the Indian openers Rohit Sharma (24) and Shikhar Dhawan (30) who laid the foundation of the chase with their 54-run stand, said Dhoni.

“A few dropped catches, it would have been better if we could have taken them, apart from that it was a fantastic game. Rohit and Dhawan gave us a good start, Kohli and Raina capitalised,” he said.

Dhoni said he was happy to see Raina among the runs and lauded Mishra for his fine show.

“It is good to see Raina among the runs, with him around it gives us the firepower in the middle order. I think today Amit Mishra bowled 70-75 percent of what he can bowl,” he said.

Mishra said he always went after the wickets.

“I did some hard work, I’m very happy we won this match. I’m always thinking of going for wickets, and building up pressure. MS (Dhoni) gave me a lot of support today, the sort of support you need as a bowler,” he said.

Pakistan skipper Mohammed Hafeez said his team was 20 runs short.

“The pitch was damp a little, not coming onto the bat, there was extra bounce. We were 20 runs short, we also dropped some catches, we have to take them in matches like this. Still a long way to go in this tournament,” he said.