Poor shot selection and the failure to read the Eden Park wicket cost India dearly in the final ODI against New Zealand, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said.
Poor shot selection and the failure to read the Eden Park wicket cost India dearly in the final ODI against New Zealand, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said.
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"We misread the wicket. We do make mistakes, but we should have negotiated the period," Dhoni said after the eight-wicket defeat to New Zealand.
"We did quite well initially when it it was doing quite a bit. It was ideal start given by Gautam (Gambhir) and (Virender) Sehwag but we failed to capitalise on. We played shots that didn't really come up very well in this game. We lost quick wickets and put ourselves under pressure," Dhoni rued.
Asked why he had not given the reserves an opportunity to play in the inconsequential match, the Indian captain said, "We wanted to give the bowlers who will be part of the Test team more time in the middle, as some of them haven't bowled much in the one-dayers. That is why I gave Ishant (Sharma) may be a couple of more overs. Also, most of them were very keen to play."
Sending Suresh Raina at No 3 was another move that surprised some but Dhoni defended the decision.
"It gets very difficult for guys who don't start in the first eleven to make big runs. Those batting at number six or seven at the best can get 30 or 40-odd runs. If the team is looking for quick runs, they could score just 10 runs. So we wanted to give him the opportunity to perform," Dhoni said.
Indian fielding was not at its best in the match today and Dhoni admitted dropping catches had become a concern. "I think both the sides have consistently dropped catches. It is definitely a worrying thing because you don t want to drop catches. We need to work on this aspect," he said.
Having led India to its first ODI series win here, Dhoni said the focus would now be on the Test series. "We have to start from scratch again and perform at our best. In Tests you have to play consistent cricket over a period of time. It is not winning one session or two sessions, you have to win more sessions than the opposition in a comprehensive way," he said.
Dhoni also dismissed Ishant Sharma's spat with Jesse Ryder as a heat-of-the-moment incident. "It is a heat of the moment incident. I believe they have sorted it out. It is an ugly thing to happen on the field. But when fast bowlers get hammered and get hit for sixes that go beyond 70 yards, these things happen," he said.
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