MS Dhoni hits out at batsmen

[Switchblade]

After India's implosion in Nagpur, MS Dhoni came into the captains' press conference and hit the first question out of the room, into the black sky of Jamtha and all over the headlines. India had just lost their first World Cup match to South Africa by five wickets and Dhoni criticised his batsmen who had made it happen. The team would have been helped greatly had they curbed not their enthusiasm but certainly their instincts today. India lost nine wickets for 29 to be bowled out for 296, when they were on course for something far bigger. The batsmen "don't need to play for the spectators - they love sixes and fours in India but at the end of the day....," Dhoni said. He spoke calmly, his agitation emerging mostly from his words. The team, Dhoni said, always talked about a par score on every ground on which it played an ODI and responding to changing on-field situations. India were never able to do that in Nagpur, losing four for 30 in the batting Powerplay. "When you have 270 -280 on board, you go out there and what you want to do is play big shots and crowds always want those big shots. But different people have different roles and responsibilities. You need to bat 50 overs at least. Especially if you've lost two-three wickets in the first 35 overs, you should be able to bat 50 overs." He then added one of the more obvious truths in the game that had escaped the batsmen. "If you play 50 overs," Dhoni said several times in his 10-minute conference, "you get more runs." The first two partnerships added 267, and it was the breadth of the platform that got the rest of the Indian batsmen going, given the fact that the team knew that 320 was thought of as a par score in Nagpur. "If you want a par score, you then start looking at 350 or 360 and you end up with 40 runs less." Dhoni also said the Indians had struggled to defend their total of 296 because of the size of the VCA stadium affecting the Indians, and the differing standards of fielding between the sides. "I think with one of the bigest grounds in India here, we were tested by South Africa's fast running between the wickets. Most of the fielders got targeted and it won't be the case in some of the grounds which are not very big. "Fielding was also the difference between the two sides. They fielded brilliantly even though we got off to a good start and had dominated our innings until the 35th or 38th over. But maybe the 15 runs they saved gave them a massive advantage." Dhoni said he had called for the batting Powerplay (when India began to lose wickets) in order to try and use the last ten overs of the innings. "We wanted to use the batting Powerplay as well as the slog overs after that. If you can do that you carry momentum from the five overs, and sometimes you can score 100 runs in those ten overs." The result, he said, was more than a disappointment. "It's a big learning curve," Dhoni said. "If you see the England v South Africa match, it just reminds you, that a game doesn't get over till it's over." http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cricket_worldcup2011/content/story/505909.html

[Switchblade]

Hope that you do learn quickly cant afford too many hiccups now

[Pak_Fan_4_Eva]

You may get away with the minnows but it's impossible to always please the crowd against a strong opposition :P India are better off chasing because they don't have the "balls" (intended pun) to bowl out an opposition

[asterix]

The batsmen "don't need to play for the spectators - they love sixes and fours in India but at the end of the day....," Dhoni said. He spoke calmly, his agitation emerging mostly from his words.

Confirmation that Pathan's time is up..Raina coming in his place..100%..And a good decision to bring in Raina..He was a livewire on the field too.. Dhoni is pissed off at Pathan playing that nothing shot and getting out on Duck..especially when Dhoni sent Pathan up the order..

[Ravi.]

Raina should be in the team also Sreesanth should get a game before QF.

[Sachin=GOD]

Raina and Ashwin for Yusuf and Nehra :protest: :protest:

[IndianRenegade]

Confirmation that Pathan's time is up..Raina coming in his place..100%..And a good decision to bring in Raina..He was a livewire on the field too.. Dhoni is pissed off at Pathan playing that nothing shot and getting out on Duck..especially when Dhoni sent Pathan up the order..

I am not too sure about this, assuming Dhoni was pointing out pathan. The only reason Dhoni changed the batting order and sent Pathan up was to accelerate the scoring. Thats what pathan does best. He is not your sensible kind of guy, he is some1 like Shewag - Hit or Miss. Knowing this I am not sure if Dhoni is so pissed off @ Pathan. If has to be pissed off @ some1. I believe it is yuvi, kholi, and himself for not knowing how to bat with the tail. I mean he was @ the other end when all the carnage was taking place. All he had to do was change the mindset and tell to his men 350 is no more possible lets bat the 50 overs.

[Malik_Bhai]

why is everyone pissed off at yusuf, it not like the others batted well, including dhoni. had nehra messed up the last over, nobody would have talked about it.

[Sachin=GOD]

I am not too sure about this' date=' assuming Dhoni was pointing out pathan. The only reason Dhoni changed the batting order and sent Pathan up was to accelerate the scoring. Thats what pathan does best. [b']He is not your sensible kind of guy, he is some1 like Shewag - Hit or Miss. Knowing this I am not sure if Dhoni is so pissed off @ Pathan. If has to be pissed off @ some1. I believe it is yuvi, kholi, and himself for not knowing how to bat with the tail. I mean he was @ the other end when all the carnage was taking place. All he had to do was change the mindset and tell to his men 350 is no more possible lets bat the 50 overs.

Sehwag is not just hit and miss. He uses his mind while batting, Pathan's case is usually of just come and hit the ball without thinking much.

[Sachin=GOD]

why is everyone pissed off at yusuf, it not like the others batted well, including dhoni. had nehra messed up the last over, nobody would have talked about it.

so ,according to you Nehra did not mess up the last over :giggle:

[IndianRenegade]

Sehwag is not just hit and miss. He uses his mind while batting' date=' Pathan's case is usually of just come and hit the ball without thinking much.[/quote'] okay, I don't want to get into the debate of whether Shewag is a Hit or Miss Batsman. But the point is, Yusuf is. And sending him up the order is to get you those big overs. Now, with the hindsight of his failure, to say he should have been more sensible is not sensible.

[Malik_Bhai]

so ' date='according to you Nehra did not mess up the last over :giggle:[/quote'] haha obviously, a typo. he messed it up, no doubt about it.

[achilles]

Confirmation that Pathan's time is up..Raina coming in his place..100%..And a good decision to bring in Raina..He was a livewire on the field too.. Dhoni is pissed off at Pathan playing that nothing shot and getting out on Duck..especially when Dhoni sent Pathan up the order..

No. Yusuf Pathan is not a switch. He is a human-being. And I highly doubt Dhoni's this trivial. Raina sure is a match-winner but not as a matchwinner as Yusuf, who can pretty much change a game in a matter of one over.

[asterix]

No. Yusuf Pathan is not a switch. He is a human-being. And I highly doubt Dhoni's this trivial. Raina sure is a match-winner but not as a matchwinner as Yusuf' date=' who can pretty much change a game in a matter of one over.[/quote'] Okay, let's bet..If Raina comes in for the Chennai match, you have to change your current avatar to Raina's photo for a month. If YP stays I'll have YP's avatar for a month.. :beee:

[Switchblade]

Yes achiless Raina and Ashwin are going to play for sure. Ashwin is a local boy and Raina i do feel that he is going to replace some1

[achilles]

^ Gambhirfan... its good if both get their chances. Ashwin has one overdue. Raina can realistically only replace Pathan and I hate thinking how fair is it to both of them. @ Asterix babu... But we are supposed to be the same person, you know

[vvvslaxman]

I don't know who Dhoni is referring to as "playing for the crowd". Only thing that comes to my mind is when Yusuf was batting crowd was going "sixer sixer"... i think. He played one in the air and got out. Wonder if it as directed towards Yusuf. Whatever it is , never send YP in power play. This guy doesn't need powerplays to clear boundaries.

[Ultimate_Game]

I don't know who Dhoni is referring to as "playing for the crowd". Only thing that comes to my mind is when Yusuf was batting crowd was going "sixer sixer"... i think. He played one in the air and got out. Wonder if it as directed towards Yusuf. Whatever it is ' date=' never send YP in power play. This guy doesn't need powerplays to clear boundaries.[/quote'] I think he may be referring to Yuvi. He got out off the last ball of the power play off a full toss despite knowing that we didn't have batsmen left after him with 7 overs still to go. Yusuf's job was to go in there and play shots and it's unfotunate he got out. If the same shot he tried had gone just one foot higher and cleared the fielder and gone for a 4 we would have been praising him. I think we messed up changing the batting order a bit. Kohli should have been sent at 4 or if Pathan had been sent up the order he should have been told that he should take his time and get set before playing shots. He shouldn't go for his shots as soon as he gets in even though the power-play is on. Most of Pathan's destructive innings have come in when he took his time, settled down and then went for his shots. If you ask him, or any batsman for that matter, to slog from ball 1 the results wouldn't be too great. I say he should be told to settle down and bide his time before attacking unless he faces a spinner - Pathan could definitely take on spinners from ball 1.

[veer]

when he said 'dont play for the crowd', he was talking about yuvi.. he played a full toss ball to hit his second six ..

[vvvslaxman]

Yuvi usually connects those low full tosses very well. Better than anyone in our side. Wonder what is wrong with his brutal hitting. Probably his timing is little off these days.