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  Lack of adaptability, batting failure did us in, says MS Dhoni

Lack of adaptability, batting failure did us in, says MS Dhoni

Published : Mar 17, 2016, 2:01 am IST
Updated : Mar 17, 2016, 2:01 am IST

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni came down heavily on his batsmen who didn’t offer any sort of resistence chasing a modest 127 after the hosts went down to New Zealand in the ICC World T20 Super 10

Mahendra Singh Dhoni
 Mahendra Singh Dhoni

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni came down heavily on his batsmen who didn’t offer any sort of resistence chasing a modest 127 after the hosts went down to New Zealand in the ICC World T20 Super 10 tournament opener on Tuesday.

India suffered a major batting collapse when openers Shikhar Dhawan (1), Rohit Sharma (5) and middle-order mainstays Suresh Raina (1) and Yuvraj Singh (4) were dismissed inside the first five overs. Dhoni pointed that lack of partnerships and adaptability by his batsmen cost the home side dear. “There were no partnerships at all. I felt it was the batting department which could’ve done slightly better. I think we lost one wicket every alternate over. I feel to some extent it was lack of application,” Dhoni said at the post-match conference.

“Yes, it was a big outfield, the ball was turning but if you have some kind of a partnership going, you can look for twos and in between play the big shot. But if you keep losing wickets it becomes more and more difficult to rotate on a wicket like this,” he added.

The India skipper was all praise for his bowlers and in particular the spinners, who played a vital role to restrict Kiwis to 126. Dhoni also negated questions that India read conditions wrong and backed decision to go in with an unchanged XI.

‘Can’t afford to lose anymore’ With the 47-run loss, the hosts have registered a net run-rate of - 2.350 and Dhoni admitted that although the loss was a good wake up call, the margin of defeat could have been smaller. “It’s important that we win our coming matches but what is also important is how we win those matches and by what margin,” Dhoni said.

Location: India, Maharashtra, Nagpur