Bowlers learnt their lessons during tri-series, they’ve upped ante: Dhoni

Following India’s four-wicket win over the West Indies, Mahendra Singh Dhoni spoke about a range of issues, including why Ravindra Jadeja needs to pull up his socks and how the below-par performance in the tri-series was a stepping stone for success for the bowler. Excerpts from a media interaction.

On Jadeja

I think he needs to improve. He needs to step up really because we have a lot of faith in him, but at the end of the day you can’t really play with hope. What you want is actually performance on the field. He has that capability. You don’t get three triple hundreds in India just because you know how to bat. He’s definitely talented, but he needs to keep believing in himself. Every batsman is tested in a few areas. They will bowl short-pitched deliveries to him. He will have to find a way in which he can tackle it because every batsman tackles it in a different way.

On the bowlers

I feel the contribution of all the bowlers is superb. Umesh is bowling well, he is bowling quick. Shami, again, yes, he has taken the extra responsibility of bowling with the new ball, and it gives Mohit a bit more time in the middle order with a bit more feel, and he has been very consistent. Overall the fast bowling department, the three of them, they bowled really well as a unit

On the team

We want a partnership in both batting and in bowling. We are not emphasising too much on individual performances. What we are looking for is the kind of partnership created by two individuals when they are bowling or batting. The whole essence of the team is how to win games. Overall, as I said, the unit has done well. Bowlers, they have stepped up after the tri-Series. They learned a lot out of the tri-Series, and also from the away tours.

On tactics of pacemen

We wanted to use the new ball, but at the same time we didn’t want to try too many different things because they’re batting in a slightly different way, especially if you see Chris (Gayle), he looks to give room. But what we did really nicely was we kept hitting the back of a length area, and they made it slightly uncomfortable for the batsmen. They are used the bounce or the variable bounce that was available for them in the first 10 really well, and Chris went for the big shots, and ultimately one of them didn’t pay off. I felt they (bowlers) did well. The good thing was they didn’t try too many different things.

On the wicket

I think it was a tough wicket. As I said, it’s not really easy to chase this kind of a score on a wicket where it’s slightly double paced. I felt when the West Indian team was batting it was slightly more difficult, especially the first 10 overs. But after that to some extent it settled down, but still, there was a bit of swing for the West Indian bowlers, which meant it was definitely difficult for our batsmen, also.

Source:: Indian Express