Feed Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Though Balaji is no stranger to int'l cricket, his comeback after a layoff has been really remarkable, writes Mahendra Singh Dhoni. More... Balaji has been an asset for us: Dhoni MS Dhoni speaks... Mahendra Singh Dhoni May 14, 2008 First Published: 02:35 IST(14/5/2008) Last Updated: 03:42 IST(14/5/2008) It's good to be back to winning ways, with two wins from our last two games. I don't believe in anything like momentum when it comes to Twenty20 cricket, because as we have seen in this tournament, you win some and lose some. I am also impressed with Subramanian Badrinath who has contributed in almost every game. He is a very intense cricketer, who is involved in all aspects of the game and who knows his role in the side and what he has to do. At this stage of the tournament, the tussle for the semifinals has got intense. Bangalore and Hyderabad are out of the reckoning, but that does not mean their results will not have an impact on the semifinals anymore. In fact, they are even more dangerous now because they have nothing to lose, and could spoil the party for those who are hopeful of making it to the last four. Hyderabad had a very strong batting line-up, and even though their bowling was their weak link, the hard-hitting abilities of the batsmen more than compensated for it. Unfortunately, they did not win at regular intervals and the pressure got to the players. On the other hand, we were able to break the chain of losses quickly, and for that I would like to mention the role played by our franchisee. They knew that winning and losing are part of the game, and they were more interested in the effort than in the result. There was no pressure, subtle or obvious exerted on us, and we were allowed to play our natural game. As far as our performance is concerned it's great to see local talent doing their bit for the team. L Balaji is no stranger to international cricket, but his comeback after a layoff has been remarkable. We are not really worried about his injury, but we were concerned that he might not be match fit because he had not played cricket for quite a long time. However, he has proved to be an asset, a bowler who is economical and who has a well-disguised slower ball. I am also impressed with Subramanian Badrinath who has contributed in almost every game. He is a very intense cricketer, who is involved in all aspects of the game and who knows his role in the side and what he has to do. I am also pleased with my own performance. I know scoring a century is difficult for me, but my role is to play the role of a finisher and it's satisfying that I have made quality runs rather than a large quantity of runs. As far as captaincy is concerned, I get the credit, but the team actually has been a great one to lead. We are in Mumbai at present, and I am actually missing Chennai! We have made Dublin, the nightclub in our Chennai hotel into our hub. Irrespective of the results, we party there. Hopefully, we will be celebrating a win when we get back to Chennai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zakhmi Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 B & B are lucky...as MSD is on talent search during IPL...look at this! MSD said that he is impressed with Subramanian Badrinath who has contributed in almost every game. He also said that Badri is a very intense cricketer, who is involved in all aspects of the game and who knows his role in the side and what he has to do. So Badri becomes MSD's man for sure, very soon Badri will be in the squad. Of course, he deserves to be in it! Though Balaji is no stranger to int'l cricket, his comeback after a layoff has been really remarkable, writes Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Again, this is a very good sign. MSD speaks about something well b4 than he goes for it. So Bala will be seen soon in action on international level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fineleg Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 L. Balaji bowled 2 overs for 9 runs on a day when Sanath reigned supreme Impressive bowling. Why was he not bowled the full 4 overs when you know the match cannot go the distance of 20 overs when the MARAUDER was MAULING!?? Dhoni??? M Gony 3 0 31 0 10.33 (3w) JA Morkel 3 0 44 0 14.66 (2w) L Balaji 2 0 9 0 4.50 (3w) Joginder Sharma 3 0 24 1 8.00 (2w) M Muralitharan 2 0 20 0 10.00 (1w) CK Kapugedera 0.5 0 26 0 31.20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianRenegade Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 Thats exactly why it was nonsense captaincy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fineleg Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 Thats exactly why it was nonsense captaincy... i did not watch S.Lanka (well, MI==Sri lanka today) batting, so just catching up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbydhillon Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 well to be honest most of deliveries bowled by balaji was to sachin and uthappa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianRenegade Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 ^ still it doesn't make sense that he doesn't finish his quota or why he wasn't given the ball when Surya was on a rampage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbydhillon Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 ^ still it doesn't make sense that he doesn't finish his quota or why he wasn't given the ball when Surya was on a rampage. true i agree but i was just stating the facts since uthappa and sachin faced him mostly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoda Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 Dhoni sucked today. Enuf said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HariSampath Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 There was nothing anyone could do. By the 10th over itself the result was a foregone conclusion. The only miracle CSK could have expected was 4-5 wkts tumbling and then maybe some game left, so Dhoni kept 2 overs of Balaji back, but in the last 2-3 overs , Jayasuriya got some 40-50 runs and finished it off. It would have made no sense to bring on Balaji in 13th or 14th over, and in any case that kabbadi player couldnt even complete one over and went for 200 runs I think , in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbydhillon Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 There was nothing anyone could do. By the 10th over itself the result was a foregone conclusion. The only miracle CSK could have expected was 4-5 wkts tumbling and then maybe some game left' date=' so Dhoni kept 2 overs of Balaji back, but in the last 2-3 overs , Jayasuriya got some 40-50 runs and finished it off. It would have made no sense to bring on Balaji in 13th or 14th over, and in any case that kabbadi player couldnt even complete one over and went for 200 runs I think , in the end.[/quote'] u always find a excuse for dhoni, rofl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fineleg Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 who is kabbadi player? Kapugedera? Why do they keep picking him? Its a mistake by MSD to keep picking Kapugedera Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desi Cartman Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 my Lankan colleagues told me sometime back that Kapugedra is a very good player ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamy Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 Kapugedera? Innu illa, swalpa adjust maadi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer1 Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 naavu anthu kapu gallela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamy Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 thaakath maga! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f.b.m Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 Kapugedera? Innu illa' date=' swalpa adjust maadi.[/quote'] Yaake adjust maadbeku? Are you also a mix of tamil/kannada/telugu? If so, yay! I thought that only people from Kolar/border region were like that. And yes, Dhoni should have rotated the bowlers and brought Balaji far earlier than he did after his 5-fer and the new ball bowlers getting spanked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sachinism Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 even if he bowled his other 2 overs and gave 0 runs, MI still would have went on to win the matcha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianRenegade Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 ^ agreed, he should have been given a chance in the power play overs... but Dhoni was just acting so weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamy Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 ^^ It's a ploy. He was just not himself yesterday.... intentionally :hatsoff: Yaake adjust maadbeku? Are you also a mix of tamil/kannada/telugu? If so, yay! I thought that only people from Kolar/border region were like that. And yes, Dhoni should have rotated the bowlers and brought Balaji far earlier than he did after his 5-fer and the new ball bowlers getting spanked. ya lol, tho my Tamil sux. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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