MS Dhoni was named the Man of the Match for his superb knock, and the veteran compared himself to a wine. It is like wine,” said Dhoni.
“I think we are not getting too much of an opportunity because the top-order has been bating really well in the last 1 and a half years. It feels good to go out there and score some runs. If we are in the same situation in the coming games, we will get 15-20 runs more. There was variable bounce and pace on the wicket. It was important to have a partnership at that time. Personally, I had 250 in the mind. Kedar batted realy well with me. It was something that the bowlers could have defended and am glad that they did. The extra fielder is inside the circle. So, we need to be careful with the spinners. It is important Kuldeep. We need to guide him for 5-10 games. After that he will learn.”
Meanwhile, things are headed just downwards for the Windies as Jason Holder’s men endured another crushing defeat at the hands of India. Having had the initiative early on by picking up the prized scalps of Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli right with the new ball, the hosts allowed India to get back, thanks to an ever defensive approach from Holder. Despite being over the Indian batsmen throughout, the Windies couldn’t pick up wickets at regular intervals and that dented them colossally.
Needing a moderate 252 to win on what was a sluggish surface, pretty much like the last game, the batsmen made no whole-hearted effort to win the game. Once again, it was another sorry tale as Kuldeep Yadav ran through the batting order with three wickets. Spinner R. Ashwin too returned to form with three wickets, which broke the run chase completely.
Having lost by 93 runs, things look bleak for the Windies going into the next game on Sunday. Skipper Jason Holder was disappointed after the loss and blamed the batsmen for the loss.
“I thought the bowlers did a hell of a job,” said Holder. “We put in a good effort in the first 10 and controlled them in the middle overs. One criticism was at the back end of the innings, in the last overs. I thought Kesrick did a reasonable job.”
“He didn’t start off the way he wanted to. Kyle was outstanding on the field despite a dropped catch. We have to convert. We have to obviously adjust our batting. We need to bat better. On the field we were pretty good though,” the Windies captain added.