The Hindu : Sport : ‘Next time, we probably would send Yuvraj up the order’

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‘Next time, we probably would send Yuvraj up the order’

Special Correspondent

— Photo: AP

DESPONDENT: The looks on the faces of the players in the Indian dug-out say it all.

London: Mahendra Singh Dhoni maintained chasing was the right idea after India’s three-run defeat against England that knocked the defending champion out of the ICC World Twenty20.

The Indian captain said on Sunday, “We are disappointed because we felt 154 was a gettable score. We had also strengthened our batting order expecting to chase.

“We felt the wicket gets better in the second half. The ball comes on nicely under the lights here and there is not much turn for the spinners.”

Short-pitch blues

On the Indian batsmen being troubled by short-pitched bowling by the England pacemen, Dhoni replied, “The bowler is allowed one bouncer per over and it’s a question of how you adapt outside the sub-continent. When you are thinking too much about the short deliveries, your game changes and you are not shaping up for the other deliveries of which you can score off. There are a few lessons to be learnt from this.”

He added that the England pacemen were mixing up their bouncers well. “They were bowling the bouncers really well and mixing it up with a slow bouncer. It is not very easy to pick.”

On Jadeja’s promotion

On Ravindra Jadeja coming in at No. 4, Dhoni said, “Jadeja was looking to score from the first ball but they used the short ball against him very well. We never wanted the run-rate to go over nine or ten.”

The Indian captain justified the decision to send Jadeja ahead of Yuvraj Singh. “We thought Jadeja can play a few overs and stabilise the innings and then we could go after the bowling with the kind of batting we have. It did not work out. Next time, we probably would send Yuvraj up the order.”

Dhoni admitted that the later order batsmen were left with too much to accomplish. “Myself and Yusuf tried to score but it was too late by then and the ball was also reversing a bit.”

No rift in the side

Dhoni denied there was any rift in the side. “The dressing room environment is great and this gives us a chance to bounce back.”

Asked whether the long-drawn IPL had left the players jaded, Dhoni replied, “IPL is demanding because you play at different venues. But I personally would not like to give this as an excuse.”

The Indian captain conceded that he was not hitting the ball as cleanly as he used to. “I am not consistently clearing the park, that’s for sure. I am working on it,” he said.

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