MS Dhoni runs out of reasons to explain India's no-show

MS Dhoni

India skipper MS Dhoni had a dejected look on his face during the post match press conference after another loss to the Kiwis, which put an end to what has been a humiliating series so far.

Dhoni said: “All defeats are bad and at the end of the day you can’t really measure disappointment.”

It was the bowlers who bared the brunt after last game’s defeat, and this time, it was the turn of the batsman.

Dhoni added: “We have invested a lot in our batting. It wasn’t a lack of experience because a lot of players in the side have played a lot of ODI cricket, and most of them are batsmen. But New Zealand executed their plans very well and whatever we tried chasing or batting first, it didn’t work. So now it is up to our batsmen to improvise and adapt and bring in a positive attitude.”

“After one season, once you become a settled side the opposition starts planning against each and every batsman and that has been the case all over the world. Fresh questions are asked and the batsmen are talented enough to get out of it. But they will need to put in a lot of effort in the practice sessions and mentally make their plans, what they need to do once they go into the game.”

But as he always does, he opted to be optimistic and said: “I am hoping with the kind of talent they have, the amount of games that they have played they will come out of it, and that will be a big positive for us.”

“Throughout this series, they (New Zealand) have played very good cricket. Their new ball pair has been very good but where they’ve taken the game away is in the middle overs batting which set up their charge late in the innings, picking up 80-90 runs consistently.”

Dhoni praised the bowling at the beginning and at the death: “In this game, the new ball bowling was really good and even the death bowling to some extent. I knew they will go for runs, but I was happy with the death bowling.”

“More often than not in this series New Zealand have batted really well through the middle order, and have not lost too many wickets and scored at a brisk pace. That has been the difference between both teams. That’s the time when we are losing wickets, and we are only doing the catching up.”

Explaining the team strategies, he said: “Regarding Ishwar Pandey, we thought that there is some more work needed on his bowling before he can be tried, but this exposure has been very good for him. We thought about playing an extra batsman but when the top six or seven batsmen are not playing well, then why should we rely on number eight. It will also weaken the bowling.

“And we wanted Ashwin’s batting. The one match that was tied was because of his batting performance, so that is why we back Ashwin,” said Dhoni, when asked about Amit Mishra‘s continued absence from the set-up.

The Test series begins on February 6, and India will have to recover quickly from a miserable 4-0 defeat if they are to mount a good fight in the longer format.