Mahendra Singh Dhoni says finisher’s job toughest in cricket
Oct 27, 2016 at 3:51 PM
After losing the fourth One-day international against New Zealand at Ranchi, Indian captain MS Dhoni said that the job of a finisher is one of the toughest in cricket.
India restricted New Zealand to 260 runs at Ranchi on Wednesday. Apart from Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane the rest of batting line-up failed to perform. Axar Patel and Dhawal Kulkarni tried their best but failed to take the hosts past the finishing line.
“Batting down the order is one of the toughest things to do especially on wickets like these. There will be pressure to rotate, to get a partnership. It’s not easy. You don’t always get a player who’s complete and bats at no 5, 6 or 7,” Dhoni said in the post-match news conference.
“On a wicket like this, when the score was not too much, you need partnerships. With two new balls, it comes on to bat better initially. The wicket slows down. It does not come on to the bat that well. It was a difficult phase and it becomes difficult to rotate.
“When you have a partnership going, a lot of stuff becomes easier. If you lose wickets at that point of time, it adds to the pressure,” he said.
Indian cricket team has not won a bilateral series against a major team since 2015 World Cup. They whitewashed Zimbabwe in 2015 and 2016. India will look to play win on Saturday and seal the series at Vizag.