Pakistan's tour of India: ‘We just needed to score off bad deliveries’

Dhoni lashes out at underperforming seniors.

KOLKATA: India’s first One-Day International (ODI) series-loss against Pakistan at home in seven years was a result of irresponsible batting, according to captain MS Dhoni, as the batsmen failed to take  a cue from their bowlers and were shot out for 165 at Eden Gardens under lights.

Indian bowlers recovered well to dismiss Pakistan for 250 after Nasir Jamshed and Mohammad Hafeez had put on 141 runs by the 24th over. While Misbahul Haq rued lack of partnerships as Pakistan fell short of the 290-run aim that they took guard with, Dhoni was left to lament yet another poor show from his batsmen.

“It was a good effort by our bowlers given the kind of start Pakistan had,” said Dhoni. “But once again, the batting was disappointing. We needed to have wickets at the end to go for the push. We didn’t score at a good pace and lost wickets regularly.

“In the past, we’ve achieved high required rates because we’ve kept wickets in hand. But in Kolkata, once the wickets started falling, there wasn’t anyone there in the middle to soak up the pressure.”

Virendar Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir did put on 42 by the 10th over but losing four wickets and continued accuracy by the Pakistani bowlers in the next 10 meant that India were way behind the asking rate while chasing 250 which, according to Misbah, was ‘not a winning score’.

“It was important to rotate strike. If we weren’t getting runs in the middle overs we just had to see through that lean period and press on towards the end. Once we lost five wickets with not much on the board, we were out of the game. With the kind of bowlers they have, 250 looked like a huge score. Keep out the good deliveries, score off the loose ones and we would’ve been through.”

India dropped batsman Rohit Sharma for the Kolkata match after he managed just one half-century in the last 15 ODIs and reached double figures once in the last nine innings. Ravindra Jadeja was drafted into the playing-XI but the hosts, given the continued frailty with the bat, might look into getting Ajinkya Rahane looking for a consolation win in Delhi.

Dhoni himself is yet to be dismissed in the series, scoring a century and a half-century in vain. But he admitted that Pakistan bowlers, who have exploited the conditions much better than the hosts, will be a handful at Feroz Shah Kotla as well unless the seniors finally deliver what is expected of them.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2013.