'Luck is a factor, but you've to play good cricket'

'You have to realise it was half an hour early start, a bad toss to lose.'

'There was a considerable amount of dew, which meant the spinners couldn't bowl how they would have liked to.'

'If you bowl a no ball and get a wicket off that no ball, then there is no one else to blame.'

Mahendra Singh Dhoni explains why India lost the semi-final.
Harish Kotian/Rediff.com listens in.

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni seemed to be at a loss for words to explain India's stunning defeat to the West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday night.

Dhoni felt that dew was a major factor at the Wankhede. Spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were hampered big time and ended up conceding 20 in 2 overs and 48 in 4 respectively.

• "30 more runs would have been really nice, but you have to realise it was half an hour early start, a bad toss to lose. So when they started batting, the first few overs were fine, but after that there was a considerable amount of dew, which meant the spinners couldn't bowl how they would have liked to," the skipper said.
• "It was coming on nicely and the ball was getting wet. So that was the difference between the first innings and second innings. The surface had some assistance for the spinners; it was gripping, but in the second innings there wasn't much in it for them."
• "It was quite difficult to score 190. We are saying 10, 15 (runs) short based on the second innings, but you have to analyse that the surface was completely different."
• "If you are looking for 210 in the first innings you may end up with 160 and on this wicket 160 becomes quite below par," Dhoni added.
• "I think the spinners had some assistance, but as the dew comes in it becomes difficult for them to turn the ball. The seam gets wet and the surface becomes a bit greasy, so it comes onto the bat nicely."
• "I feel we have seen that our spinners do struggle in conditions like these. If you remember, in one of the T20 World Cups we were knocked out because of one bad game and in that game there was a bit of dew... or I don't remember, maybe it was rain that got the ball wet. So that's where our spinners find it difficult. It was quite evident."
• "Ashwin only bowled two overs. Jadeja, we were forced to bowl the last quota of his overs otherwise he would have only bowled three overs."

Lendl Simmons, who joined the West Indies team only on Tuesday, March 29, following an injury to Andre Fletcher, had the rub of the green going his way, not once but thrice.

He was caught off a no ball at 18 in the 7th over off Ashwin. Ditto in the 15th over, this time off Hardik Pandya.

He was caught on 62 at deep midwicket by Jadeja who did well to hold on and tried to relay the ball back to Virat Kohli, but his feet had touched the advertising billboard skirting the boundary ropes in the 18th over bowled by Jasprit Bumrah.

Dhoni was unhappy about those lapses, which proved decisive.

• "The only thing I am disappointed about are the two no balls. Other than that we tried our best and even if the conditions were not in favour of the spinners, whatever resources we had we tried our best in the game."
• "Frankly, you have to take into account that nobody wants to bowl a no ball, but it is just that on tracks like these when it is so difficult."
• "If you bowl a no ball and get a wicket off that no ball then there is no one else to blame, because one of the catches was a brilliant catch that was taken off the no ball."
• "What it does is that it gives you a free hit and the batsmen gets a chance to get into some kind of momentum."
• "I feel that the point at which the no balls were bowled were quite crucial. If we had got those wickets, we would have got the opportunity to bowl one or two overs of the spinners and get away with them without giving too many runs."
• "Nobody wants to bowl a no ball, so I don't want to be too tough on them, but when there is pressure you have to be at your best."
• "A no ball is something that can be avoided, especially the front foot no ball. You practice more and you practice more. The only thing is that if you don't want to bowl a no ball you should never bowl a no ball."
• "Ultimately, what matters is how the players are performing. It is good that we talk about luck because we start with a flip of the coin, but other than that you have to be at your best, you have to keep performing."
• "If you know there will be dew, you try to win the toss, you can't really control it. You try to win the toss, put the opposition in and try to take the game away from there."
• "So luck is a factor definitely, but at the end of the game you have to play good cricket."
• "None of the tournaments that we have won was because of good luck; there is nothing called good luck. You have to execute your plans well."
• "When an individual is given that tough responsibility of bowling one over when there is pressure, he bowls a good over, he executes his plan; ultimately you win the game."