Experimenting is a word banned from Indian cricket: MS Dhoni
Apr 16, 2016 at 4:54 PM
After suffering a stunning defeat in the first T20I, India made a comeback in the 3-match T20I series by securing an emphatic victory over Sri Lanka in the second T20I at Ranchi. India won the second T20I by 69 runs.
After the match, when MS Dhoni was asked about the experimentation in next matches for keeping in mind to the upcoming World T20, Indian skipper MS Dhoni replied, “Experimenting is a word banned from Indian cricket, but yes we’re trying different things. Our top order has done well, so we’re trying to give everyone an opportunity whenever possible.”
In the Ranchi clash, India was unchanged from the 1st T20I but Dhoni sent Hardik Pandya to bat ahead of Yuvraj and himself.
Dhoni spoke out on his team batting, “Almost 200 runs were scored, but there was something for everyone. Overall it was very good for us.”
Dhoni said on team’s fielding and his stumpings, “Most of our fielders are above average. Sometimes in T20s, even the slower ones can get away. But yes, fielding is very important. Being a bit unorthodox behind the stumps really helps, but credit to the bowlers for beating the batsman.”
On the other hand, Sri Lankan skipper Dinesh Chandimal credited to the Indian batsmen for this match. He said, “Credit to the Indian batsmen. We tried hard as a bowling unit but eventually gave away 25 extra runs. We need to regroup. On this kind of track, we needed to mix our yorkers and slower deliveries well. Hopefully, our bowlers will learn quickly. We’ll put our heart and soul into the next game.”
Shikhar Dhawan won the man of the match award in this match for making a superb knock of 51 runs. It was his maiden T20I fifty. Dhawan said in the post-match presentation ceremony, “Happy to have got my first T20I fifty. I was hitting the ball well. I like to play my natural game, I got a lot of support from the captain and the coaching staff. We didn’t have any specific plan to hit 70 in the first six. Once I started connecting the ball well, it all came together.”