Bowlers did a decent job, quite happy with their effort - MS Dhoni after India's record loss in 1st ODI
Despite a 124-run loss in the opening game of the series against West Indies, Indian skipper MS Dhoni said on Wednesday that he was “quite happy” with the efforts of his bowlers, particularly in the death overs.
Chasing a target of 322, India were bowled out for 197, with Shikhar Dhawan top-scoring with 68.
"Most our bowlers apart from Bhuvaneswar gave runs. Considering that we restricted them to a total of 321 on this wicket, I must say our bowlers did a decent job. I was quite happy with the death bowling and they bowled quite consistently maintaining their lengths and we were able to put fielders in right areas. Overall, I am quite happy with the bowling." the 33-year-old said at the end of the match.
Bhuvi was the most economical of all the Indian bowlers, giving away only 38 runs in 10 wicketless overs. The next best was Ravindra Jadeja, going at 5.80 runs an over while the rest of the bowlers went at more than 6.50 runs an over.
Keeping in the mind the dew factor at Kochi, India opted to bowl first after winning the toss but the move did not pay dividends in the end as the West Indies inflicted a 124-run loss on the hosts, their second biggest margin of victory ever against India in ODIs.
"I think we had to do something because we have seen the impact of dew here. There was no surety, but dew plays a factor more often than not so the team is forced to bowl first." Dhoni said.
He also said that he found it difficult to rotate his quicks in the heat of the afternoon at Kochi.
"It was very hot and the fast bowlers were having a tough time and they would love to bowl few more overs. It was quite hard also to keep them rotating. I could not really rotate them well”. he said.
Dhoni praised the West Indies batting effort and said his side gave away too many easy singles.
“They [West Indies] batted really well. If you see, we could not get too many wickets with the new ball. They were hitting the big shots but still we were not able to put pressure on them by not letting them get those easy singles.”
Marlon Samuels played a match-winning knock of 126 runs not out for the visitors and shared a 165-run partnership with wicket-keeper batsman Denesh Ramdin. This is now a new record for the West Indies, for the 4th wicket versus India.
“I got some runs in the warm-up match against India A - including a half-century, so I came here today determined to make my mark. I lost my coach [Roy McLean] a little while back, so I dedicate this innings to him,” Samuels, who hails from Jamaica said.
"Ramdin is in good nick for the last year and he's been batting well so we were able to feed off each other at the wicket. The communication and running between us went well. It is good when you can get runs and wickets and the team goes on to win the match. I will value this performance - when you do well and the team loses it doesn't mean that much to me. But to perform and take the team to a win against India in India is something special." he went on to add.
The Indian spinners picked up just two wickets and gave away a combined total of 144 runs in 22 overs.
Samuels took a liking to Amit Mishra’s leg-breaks and smashed him for 40 runs in 28 balls.
"They have good spinners and I wanted to make sure I played well against the spinners.Mishra is a very good legspinner with a googly like an offbreak so you had to be watchful. We tried to get the ones and twos against him and then attack the bad ball. It worked well." Samuels said.
He also acknowledged the contribution of West Indian legend, Sir Vivian Richards and said that he likes talking to the legends of the game as it helps him gain more knowledge.
"I had a long talk with the Master [Richards] and he just shared all his knowledge and I just soaked it up. I like to talk to the legends of West Indies cricket and gain knowledge. We have with us on tour, the great man Clive Lloyd, and also Sir Curtly Ambrose and Sir Richie Richardson as part of the team management. I like to listen to them as well. I will continue to talk to them and try to better my game." he added.