- New Zealand vs India, 2nd T20
Having lost both the Twenty20 matches, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni urged his players to refrain from sulking and instead gear up for the forthcoming ODI series against New Zealand, beginning March 3.
He said the Twenty20 matches have given the team a fair idea of the conditions and opponents as well.
"It is great to play a few Twenty20 games before the one-dayers. There is no point in sulking and complaining that we lost two games," Dhoni said, after the five-wicket defeat in the second T20 match.
"I am happy with the preparation and the effort. Most of the guys have spent reasonable time at the wicket. They know how the wickets will behave and this will be of great help when the one-day series comes around," he added.
Despite conceding a second straight defeat, he was pleased with the team's fighting qualities.
"I am really proud of the side. The way we came back after the first three or four overs was encouraging. I thought Harbhajan (Singh) and (Ravindra) Jadeja were fantastic. It was sad to lose Ishant (Sharma) to a shoulder injury. Zaheer's (Khan) second spell was amazing. He gave his full effort and was at his best. Irfan (Pathan) too came back well in his last two overs. However, we can do better in the batting. We are a much more talented batting unit than them," Dhoni said.
While applauding New Zealand for a stellar performance, he also called for more commitment from his boys.
"New Zealand played better. Their bowlers bowled in the right areas consistently, and bowled a lot of yorkers. That puts a lot of pressure on the batsmen, at best you can only pick up a single.
"I am not too worried about the result. I am more concerned about the commitment and effort. I believe the players gave more than a 100 percent, especially from the time Bhajji and Jadeja started bowling. The effort of everyone on the field was great," he said.
On today's match, Dhoni said, "It was quite a close match. That is what Twenty20 cricket is all about. It's not just about huge hits, but also plenty of wickets, some big
sixes. You want the game to go till the end. When we got 150, most people would have thought that New Zealand would win in 15 or 16 overs."
So far, India's famed batting line-up has not really set alight the series and the trend was evident today as well.
Dhoni reckoned losing Yuvraj Singh and Yusuf Pathan in quick succession spelt doom for the side.
"We lost wickets quickly again. When Yuvi and I were batting, we were comfortably placed, scoring at 6.5 or 7 an over. We were batting well in partnership, knowing that with our batsmen to follow, we could bank on having a go in the last five or six overs.
"But that was reduced to may be three overs at the end after we lost Yuvi and Yusuf in quick succession," he said.
Even though he was effusive in praise of Jadeja, he was not sure if the youngster could find a regular place in the ODI eleven.
"Given our one-day eleven, it is very difficult to make space for him right now,. He is not in the first eleven. These days we are playing only one spinner in Harbhajan and depending on part-time spinners.
"If Bhajji is unavailable, we will go to Ojha who is bowling well. Jadeja is definitely a good talent, an amazing fielder too. This tour will give him a lot of confidence, and the IPL will give him more exposure against bowlers who bowl at 140 kmph," explained Dhoni.
Brendon McCullum was India's nemesis in both the Twenty20 matches and Dhoni heaped praise on the Kiwi stumper-batsman who picked his second straight man of the match award.
"McCullum batted brilliantly in both the games. He carried through till the end and the others were batting around him. That is precisely what you require as a team," he said.
The match was somehow marred by crowd misbehaviour in the stands and Dhoni was clearly upset with it.
"That is really sad. You don't want bottles to be thrown around in a cricket match. The cricket ball is enough to hurt you, as it is. My fear is that it is a bit like a disease.
Once you throw a bottle it spreads. I don't want it to happen.
"May be it calls for more effort from the security staff. As it is, with people shouting at you from beyond the boundary, there is enough distraction. Hopefully, they won't throw bottles anymore," said Dhoni.
