MS Dhoni disappointed by India's performance in the 2nd T20 against South Africa
Skipper MS Dhoni expressed disappointment at the manner in which the Indian batsmen capitulated against South Africa, Times of India reports. The 34-year-old hinted that with the series already decided following the loss at Cuttack, he could make some changes to the playing eleven for the final match on October 8.
The disciplined bowling effort, which was well backed by the fielders, saw the visitors bundle out India for just 92 runs, thus setting up a comfortable 6-wicket victory. While South African skipper Faf du Plessis was understandably delighted with the work put in by his bowlers, his Indian counterpart was disappointed by the manner of his side’s loss, especially being critical of the batsmen.
India lost the series opener at Dharamsala despite posting 199 on the board. The hosts looked set for a score in the region of 220-230 at one point before a bunch of wickets towards the end restricted the Indian total to a score below 200. The innings featured a couple of run outs as well with Shikhar Dhawan and Ambati Rayudu finding themselves short of the crease.
Running between the wickets continued to be a worry for India on Monday as well with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli getting run out and Dhoni, who was critical of himself following the defeat. was also disappointed that India failed to learn their lessons from the first game.
"I don't think we played good cricket. In the batting department, we just wanted to address run-outs and losing wickets in pairs. We didn't improve on that. Overall, we didn't bat well at all. It's important to address what went wrong. You get performances like these, what's important is how you bounce back," Dhoni said after the match.
"The calling needs to improve. At times, you want to take a chance against the fielder. Sometimes you have to keep the dew factor in mind because the ball will go to the fielder quicker. You can convert 1.8 runs or 1.9 runs into 2, but not 1.75 or 1.7.”
South Africa chased down the target comfortably with only Ravichandran Ashwin troubling the opposition batsmen picking up three wickets. Dhoni, however, defended the bowlers and felt that the total was too little to defend.
"There was dew, but it's slightly difficult to say about the bowling combination. There was not enough runs on the board,” he said.
Dhoni hints at changes for the 3rd T20I
With the series already lost, Dhoni hinted that he might choose to give some of the squad members a run out in the third T20 to be played at Kolkata on October 8.
“One thing is for sure, our spinners are bowling well, and that has been our strength. In the coming games, it is important to give some of the other guys a chance, we have some time before the World T20,” Dhoni said.
The Indian skipper was forced to answer queries regarding the omission of in-form Amit Mishra in the 1st T20 and the leg-spinner was left on the sidelines yet again as Harbhajan Singh came into the side for the game at Cuttack replacing Sreenath Aravind.
Dhoni explained his thoughts behind the selection of Harbhajan ahead of Mishra.
"Amit (Mishra) is bowling really well, but looking at their batsmen, the incoming delivery is something the left- handers are good at, that's why we went with two offspinners," he said.