Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was surprised yesterday when the spinners got help from the Eden Gardens wicket in the ICC World Twenty20 match against Pakistan.
Initially, captain cool thought that the ball will turn a bit, but was later shocked to see when the ball spinning wildly as India defeated Pakistan in a must-win match in Kolkata.
“I thought it will spin a bit. We felt there was a bit of moisture and usually when that is the case the spinners also get a bit of grip.
“But what was surprising was to see throughout the game the spinners got plenty of help off the wicket. It got slightly better in the second half. But also they (Pakistan) had only one spinner,” he said.
When asked whether it would have been better to have an extra spinner instead of a third seamer. Dhoni said: “Now The third seamer can give you a bit of help if there is dew around but if I knew that there was so much turn on offer, then I don’t have a problem playing an extra spinner.”
We can still improve in some areas: Dhoni
Despite a sounding win over arch-rivals Pakistan, Dhoni cautioned and said the side could still improve in some areas, especially in tackling opponent spinners.
“I think we can still do better (playing against spin). What is important is not to get satisfied with the performance. There are areas where we can still improve. It is important that you when you win games you address all those areas.
“You won’t get a second chance in the knockout stages. From now on, very game in the tournament is like a knockout game for us. So we have to be at our best.”
In the of the post-match press conference, Dhoni was asked about how he rated his chances of making the April 3 final at the same venue, Dhoni replied: “In this format, every team is a good team. We want to compete. We want to be here for the final but as of now we want to take one game at a time.”
Team India will be playing Bangladesh at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru in their next ICC World Twenty20 match on March 23. After losing the tournament opener against the New Zealand team, a win against Pakistan is a big boost to the Dhoni-led army.
Looking for fast live cricket scores? Download CricRocket and get fast score updates, top-notch commentary in-depth match stats & much more! 🚀☄️
