IPL 2014: "Fielders couldn't take the opportunity created by bowlers" - MS Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Chennai Super Kings’ skipper for the on-going season of the IPL, Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted that his team was short by 10-15 runs in the match against Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday. Dhoni, who always emphaizes on the importance of fielding for the success of a team was furious at Robin Uthappa’s easy catch being dropped at the slip by bowler Ravichandran Ashwin in the first over of the second innings. 

"It was a bad toss to lose as the wicket became slightly better to bat on. The bowlers created the opportunities but our fielders couldn't take it," Dhoni said after losing to KKR by 8 wickets.

"The wicket was slow to start off but their spinners bowled really well. Raina played another good innings, 10 or 15 runs short," the Indian captain added.

On the other hand, KKR’s skipper Gautam Gambhir was extremely pleased with the victory as the win increased their chances of making it to the play-offs. The left hand batsman was all praise for his bowlers and said: "I think we were pretty professional with the bat and ball. Our bowlers restricting CSK to 154 was exceptional. Hopefully, we can turn up in a couple of days and do what we did today.”

"We have quality spinners in the ranks, and irrespective of the pitch they perform, and I want to mention Umesh and Cummins as well, they don't get mentioned as often as they should," Gambhir added.

Meanwhile, Robin Uthappa who has been in an amazing form in this season of the IPL with 489 runs, was awarded ‘man of the match’ for his match winning half-century. The powerful right hand batsman dedicated the knock to a “very very close friend, Muffin”.

"I've enjoyed batting here on this ground, the crowd is fantastic, I have always done well here, sort of a lucky ground for me. The wicket was coming on well, the dew factor also helped it,” Uthappa said.

"I just wanted to play to the merit of the ball, when you play T20 you tend to lose shape technically, that's what I have been trying to avoid, to not lose shape in the first six overs," he concluded.