Dhoni's negative thinking.

[urbestfriend]

As much as India have exerted control and dominance over Australia in this series, the last stretch towards a six-wicket victory in Mohali rattled their nerves. India were coasting towards the target of 133 with their openers putting on 42 in 9.2 overs, and the third-wicket partnership between Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar adding 33 in 8.2. At the start of the last mandatory hour of play, India had set themselves 45 off 15 overs. When Kohli fell with the score on 103, India needed 30 off 56 balls. The new man MS Dhoni struggled to rotate the strike against a fired-up Peter Siddle and Mitchell Starc, and the scoring rate began to fall. At the end of the game, Dhoni said it had got close and he did not want to gamble in that position by launching into his signature big hits, even though Australia had packed the inner ring with single-saving fielders ."Yes it got close. If you see I don't gamble, but the stakes were high in the sense we had everything to lose and literally we had nothing to gain." He agreed that India did stand to gain "satisfaction that we are winning one more Test match", but it had been Australia's gains that played on his mind. "But the Aussies, if they had won, it would have given them a chance to come back into the series." Several other factors, he said, played on his mind: that India were without one batsman, due to an injury to Shikhar Dhawan, as well as "the fact that from No. 7 to 11, we had not exactly scored a lot of runs. All these things play at the back of your head." Dhoni said it was important that India had set batsmen to take them through the last three or four overs. "Even if we need six runs an over for three to four overs, you can try to explode and lose a few wickets -it doesn't really matter but that was not the case. We lost M Vijay when there was a sound partnership and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. So it got close with one batsman less [Dhawan], the lower order is not really performing well. We were under a bit of pressure." There were many things to factor in during India's chase, MS Dhoni said Ž© BCCI Enlarge Dhoni said it had been Dhawan's high-speed Test century on debut, along with his 289-opening stand with Vijay, that had given India the momentum they needed in the match. "What was important for him was to play his natural game. He backed himself to play a few shots Also the pace at which both the openers scored, that was important because we didn't bat the same amount of overs but we got more runs than Australia." There was a distinct possibility, Dhoni said, that Dhawan "may not" play in Delhi, his hometown, and that the lure of a 4-0 whitewash was not going to be a factor going into the last Test. "You have to see the stakes. Everyone wants to win a million-dollar lottery but it depends on whether you buy a ticket for five dollars or five-hundred. You have to weigh everything. Because what you want is a series win to start off. And that's the most crucial thing. It doesn't matter what has happened in last series." Dhoni said the main difference with the home series against England was the failure of the Indian batsmen then to not score runs consistently. "It is important to put the runs on board for the bowlers. The pressure of 500-550 runs is a very different kind of pressure." The series result against Australia, Dhoni added, would have little bearing on the winter tour of South Africa because of the duration between the two. "In India people talk of span of memory and the next series we have got is ages away. I don't think anyone will remember what we have done in this series. The interval is too long to carry forward this memory. Maybe some people will make an half-an-hour show on the last series that we played but overall I don't think common people will carry this memory for that long." The decision to drop Harbhajan Singh and pick Pragyan Ojha, Dhoni said, had to do with the fact that Australia had reduced the number of left-handers in their side, bringing in the right-handed Brad Haddin for the injured Matthew Wade. Dhoni made it clear that the decision to leave out Ojha had to do with the India's "horses for courses" approach. "It's not like Pragyan was left out because he was not bowling well, he has bowled really well in the last series but you can say it was that horses for courses kind of thing. Since [Ravindra] Jadeja is also someone who is bowling well for us, we thought with [two other] offspinners we could put pressure on opposition." Talking about the bowling combination that may play the final Test in Delhi, Dhoni said, "[Whether or not] Delhi will be same or Bhajji comes in, we have to see because we will also have to provide Pragyan the same amount of chances in the Test matches."

What a pathetic statement from Captain cool? When most of us felt, chasing 120 odd in 30+ overs in a relatively flat pitch, there is nothing to lose and everything to gain, captain cool thought differently. He is worried about team getting all out in 30 overs and Australia winning the test :hehe: If target is 20 more runs , he would have shook hand with Clarke at the first opportunity :finger:

[urbestfriend]

And Clarke believed he can win the match. No wonder with this kind of negative approach , we lose test matches abroad .

[urbestfriend]

Kaptan cool is happy winning the series and do not want to think of 4-0, on the other hand GG is tweeting about crushing the Australians. I have a feeling that GG would be aggressive and better captain than Dhoni.

[bharat297]

Over-aggression is not good either. Good captains know when to go defensive and when to be aggressive. Not saying Dhoni necessarily does but I think that was his argument, given that a draw would have still secured the series for us. Kohli showed too much aggression with that dumb shot he played to Siddle. They had a wide mid-on and a short mid-wicket there and Siddle was angling it in to Kohli. They set a trap and he fell right into it. At that time they needed 30 off 60. There wasn't any pressure but he tried to be over aggressive.

[Sidhoni]

Kaptan cool is happy winning the series and do not want to think of 4-0' date=' on the other hand GG is tweeting about crushing the Australians. I have a feeling that GG would be aggressive and better captain than Dhoni.[/quote'] He never said he didn't look for 4-0. What he said IIRC, was "Well, of course(:P), we might try out few things but the focus remains on winning the last test as well"

[Needforspeed]

He played as if he really wanted to draw this game. From a position of 45 runs from the last 15 overs, he made it look tight. The Tendulkar run-out wouldn't have happened, had Dhoni taken a few singles at least.

[Junyfan]

yes the chase was pathetic from indians.

[I6MTW]

Thanks to Jadeja they won. Dhoni was looking for an even draw to negotiate with the aussies.

[adi B]

yes the chase was pathetic from indians.

yeah u are right,we should have tried to emulate pakistan`s chase in sydney :haha:

[Crookbond]

Dhoni said it was important that India had set batsmen to take them through the last three or four overs. "Even if we need six runs an over for three to four overs, you can try to explode and lose a few wickets -it doesn't really matter but that was not the case. We lost M Vijay when there was a sound partnership and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. So it got close with one batsman less [Dhawan], the lower order is not really performing well. We were under a bit of pressure."

Yes - this means Dhoni was looking for a draw. Like it's always said - people will read what they want to read. :facepalm:

[adi B]

who cares now,we won just leave it

[Junyfan]

yeah u are right' date='we should have tried to emulate pakistan`s chase in sydney :haha:[/quote'] why take every thing negatively?that was my view personally,not Pakistan opinion.

[Number]

Sarcasm fail from OP.

[Dumbbells]

Dhoni has changed his approach these days. He s playing his natural game. Have to keeo this going.

[ravishingravi]

But I appreciate his honesty. Having said that, even his most ardent fanboyzz will not accuse him of being positive by any stretch. He is a defensive captain. Has always been that way.

[yoda]

His batting was horrible. Without those Jadeja 4s, that game was headed to a pathetic draw. Really piss poor attitude by Dhoni. Then again our top order bats didn't make chasing a modest target any easier.

[saneindian]

The same old safety first approach. Thanks to Jadduji for those blistering 4s

[Pagalpanti]

Well you can blame him for this attitude but he's just being a realist. Remember our epic collapse vs WI in Mumbai test? Where we almost handed WI a win if not for Ashwin surviving the last over. Anything can happen in cricket and series win is more important than revenge. Even during the last 4-5 overs RR crept upto 4-4.5 only not 6+ as people are making it out to be. Which was finished with ease as well.

[adi B]

why take every thing negatively?that was my view personally' date='not Pakistan opinion.[/quote'] just a j/k mate :winky:,u are right tbh

[Vivek.S.123]

Kaptan cool is happy winning the series and do not want to think of 4-0' date=' on the other hand GG is tweeting about crushing the Australians.[b'] I have a feeling that GG would be aggressive and better captain than Dhoni.

:dito: