MS Dhoni rues lack of big partnerships after second consecutive loss

M. S. Dhoni in action earlier today

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has urged his openers to take more responsibility following the second successive defeat at the hands of New Zealand in Hamilton, after a rain-truncated match.

“When it comes to our openers, they fought out the first 10 overs but I felt that it was very important they could have carried on for another 10-15 overs so that from the 22nd or 25th over onwards, we should have started to hit out, but it does not always go according to plan,” Dhoni said in the post-match presentation.

After the revised target was set at 297 in 42 overs, courtesy of the D/L method, India fought valiantly but eventually lost, as they managed to score 277 with the loss of 9 wickets in 41.3 overs, before the game was interrupted again by rain. The Duckworth-Lewis par score for the same was 293. Following this defeat, India have surrendered the top spot in ODI rankings to Australia.

Dhoni further said that the lack of big partnerships have harmed them:

“The last game I got out, and this game Virat got out, so it was important to keep continuing to build a partnership as it is hard for the players coming in after us to play their strokes freely,” Dhoni said.

Dhoni was full of praise for the Kiwi pacers, who managed to pull India back, everytime, India looked to threaten.

“When the New Zealand fast bowlers bowled the slower ones, it was hard to get them away and play the big strokes. Somebody like Virat who is in tremendous form also found it difficult to consistently hit (the ball).

“It was quite difficult to hit them away consistently, and in the end we couldn’t get close to the 290 we needed. I think overall the wicket changed to some extent and we were not able to score 290,” he said.

Dhoni has backed his bowlers, even after dismal performance in the second consecutive match, which saw them leak plenty of runs and was full of praise for quickie Mohammed Shami.

“The fast bowlers did well for us. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was good at the death, while Shami has been performing quite consistently. Overall, it was a good effort from the bowlers’ side. We gave away a few extra runs but that was expected with the big hitters they have in their ranks who can score that 10-20 extra runs,” he said.