India started their tri-series campaign in Australia with a four-wicket defeat at the MCG.
India
started their tri-series campaign in Australia with a close four-wicket
defeat at the hands of the hosts at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on
Sunday. Batting first, thanks to Rohit Sharma's century, they posted a
below-par 267/8, a target which Australia chased down with an over to
spare.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has advised his bowlers to be more consistent with their line and length saying their bowling performance was interspersed with bad deliveries which ultimately cost them the game. "I think we gave a bit of width to the Australian batsmen. We did bowl good deliveries, but in between there were quite a few loose deliveries that were bowled. Whenever you bowl short and wide, how you come back is you bowl really up, and then you come back to length. I think we were slightly shorter to start off with. We didn't have a par-plus total," Dhoni said after the match.
"It's important for the bowlers to keep in mind is what length they were looking to bowl, what were the areas they were looking to bowl because that's something that will be very crucial in the coming months. I think we bowled very well in the last 10-12 overs. That's something we will have to do more often than not on these wickets," he said.
Dhoni tipped young allrounder Axar Patel to be a bright future prospect for India provided he is groomed properly. Patel, who failed with the bat registering a two-ball duck, was economical in his 10 overs letting just 45 runs in them besides picking a wicket.
"Axar we all know can bat too. Tomorrow he can be as good as Jadeja. With them, you can also have the option of playing two left-arm spinners if needed, depending on the opposition," Dhoni said. "Since the rule changes have been made, usually I like to keep a minimum of one or two overs for the spinners because if the fast bowlers are going for runs, with the spinner I can push the batsmen to hit one side of the wicket. With big boundaries, I can really exploit that to some extent. It's always good to have those overs up your sleeve. We will have to see if Axar can be our death bowler. But if we can groom him, why not?" he said.
Dhoni's decision to bat first at the MCG seemed to backfire when left-arm paceman Mitchell Starc had reduced them to 59/3 in 12.5 overs. However, opener Rohit Sharma, who has displayed good form in ODIs, led the recovery scoring his sixth ODI century. He was eventually dismissed for 138 that saw him hit nine fours and four sixes.
Dhoni, while acknowledging that the Indian batsmen have performed well in the limited-overs format but singled out Rohit for his consistency. "If I see the performance in ODIs in the last one and a half years, almost all the batsmen have scored runs. But it is good to see Rohit score consistently. He is someone who knows how to play big innings and he knows how to build on the good starts," he said.
"Initially, Rohit leaves the good deliveries out and then once he is set, more often than not, he scores big and we can rotate around him. He also scores at a very good pace, so overall it becomes slightly easy to build the innings," he said. "The situation Suresh Raina went in to bat today, it was very crucial to get a partnership going. And he had to curb his instinct to some extent and play defensively initially and then he went on to play his shots. I think both of them played really well today.
When Dhoni came in to bat, India were 185/4 and with a set batsman in Rohit for company, the stage was set for a late flourish. However, Dhoni began cautiously and could only manage 19 off 31 and following his dismissal, the Indian batting collapsed managing just 82 in the last 15 overs for four wickets. Dhoni accepted that India missed a big hitter lower down the order but was hopeful that with the return of allrounder Ravindra Jadeja to the side, it will provide some strength to their batting.
"Once I go in to bat at No 6, it seems you have to hit and you can't get out. It's a very difficult thing to balance. We have groomed Jadeja to do the job and I feel with him coming back, it will become slightly easy for us because we all know that he can also hit. Ashwin we all know he can definitely bat. He is a good batsman but he is not someone who will clear big grounds," he said.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has advised his bowlers to be more consistent with their line and length saying their bowling performance was interspersed with bad deliveries which ultimately cost them the game. "I think we gave a bit of width to the Australian batsmen. We did bowl good deliveries, but in between there were quite a few loose deliveries that were bowled. Whenever you bowl short and wide, how you come back is you bowl really up, and then you come back to length. I think we were slightly shorter to start off with. We didn't have a par-plus total," Dhoni said after the match.
"It's important for the bowlers to keep in mind is what length they were looking to bowl, what were the areas they were looking to bowl because that's something that will be very crucial in the coming months. I think we bowled very well in the last 10-12 overs. That's something we will have to do more often than not on these wickets," he said.
Dhoni tipped young allrounder Axar Patel to be a bright future prospect for India provided he is groomed properly. Patel, who failed with the bat registering a two-ball duck, was economical in his 10 overs letting just 45 runs in them besides picking a wicket.
"Axar we all know can bat too. Tomorrow he can be as good as Jadeja. With them, you can also have the option of playing two left-arm spinners if needed, depending on the opposition," Dhoni said. "Since the rule changes have been made, usually I like to keep a minimum of one or two overs for the spinners because if the fast bowlers are going for runs, with the spinner I can push the batsmen to hit one side of the wicket. With big boundaries, I can really exploit that to some extent. It's always good to have those overs up your sleeve. We will have to see if Axar can be our death bowler. But if we can groom him, why not?" he said.
Dhoni's decision to bat first at the MCG seemed to backfire when left-arm paceman Mitchell Starc had reduced them to 59/3 in 12.5 overs. However, opener Rohit Sharma, who has displayed good form in ODIs, led the recovery scoring his sixth ODI century. He was eventually dismissed for 138 that saw him hit nine fours and four sixes.
Dhoni, while acknowledging that the Indian batsmen have performed well in the limited-overs format but singled out Rohit for his consistency. "If I see the performance in ODIs in the last one and a half years, almost all the batsmen have scored runs. But it is good to see Rohit score consistently. He is someone who knows how to play big innings and he knows how to build on the good starts," he said.
"Initially, Rohit leaves the good deliveries out and then once he is set, more often than not, he scores big and we can rotate around him. He also scores at a very good pace, so overall it becomes slightly easy to build the innings," he said. "The situation Suresh Raina went in to bat today, it was very crucial to get a partnership going. And he had to curb his instinct to some extent and play defensively initially and then he went on to play his shots. I think both of them played really well today.
When Dhoni came in to bat, India were 185/4 and with a set batsman in Rohit for company, the stage was set for a late flourish. However, Dhoni began cautiously and could only manage 19 off 31 and following his dismissal, the Indian batting collapsed managing just 82 in the last 15 overs for four wickets. Dhoni accepted that India missed a big hitter lower down the order but was hopeful that with the return of allrounder Ravindra Jadeja to the side, it will provide some strength to their batting.
"Once I go in to bat at No 6, it seems you have to hit and you can't get out. It's a very difficult thing to balance. We have groomed Jadeja to do the job and I feel with him coming back, it will become slightly easy for us because we all know that he can also hit. Ashwin we all know he can definitely bat. He is a good batsman but he is not someone who will clear big grounds," he said.
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