Johannesburg, Oct 1 (IANS) The lack of genuine all-rounders hit India hard as they made an early exit from another International Cricket Council (ICC) event in less than four months.
In both World Twenty20 and the Champions Trophy, India were seen as favourites but left the stage early.
Asked which defeat was worst, India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said: ‘It’s difficult to say which was worse but I feel here, we won one and lost one while a game was rained off. In England it felt worse because we got enough games and our performance was not good enough.’
At the Wanderers here Wednesday, India defeated West Indies by seven-wicket in their last group match but the win came a little too late as they were already kocked out of the tournament. In their first game against Pakistan, India’s bowling and batting were pathetic and in the washed out match against Australia the bowling worsened.
Dhoni’s concerns ahead of the tournament that the team needs to improve in bowling and fielding were proved genuine. It was poor bowling that stopped India from getting beyond the group stage and Dhoni had to admit that he missed a bowling all-rounder.
‘We made quite a few mistakes. In the first match, we gave width but that’s a problem which can be solved. We were not good in fielding either. There were a few run-outs as well. I have often said if guys can improve by 15 to 20 per cent, it would help in bowling and fielding. Similar is with run-outs: if your fielding improves, it helps you in running between the wickets,’ said Dhoni.
‘I do feel disappointed but frankly speaking I find it difficult to say if we were up for this tournament or not,’ Dhoni said. ‘We were not upto the mark against Pakistan and we lost. Then we had a washout and we won the match against West Indies. I can’t say if our performance was bad.’
India, however, can take heart from the performance of young bastman like Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik.
Dhoni, however, wants more from his bowlers and wants them to bat well.
‘We also need our bowlers to bat better. If you look at the Australians, they have Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson who can bat well. It helps their side. If we can have a bowler who can bowl seam up and bat, it would help us to play, perhaps two spinners and five bowlers,’ he said.
