Captain hints Viru was dropped to accommodate Rohit Melbourne: India slipped from a good start to a horrible finish in the rain-interrupted tri-series opener, against Australia, on Sunday.
India lost the 32-overs-per-side game by 65 runs, being bundled out for 151 in response to Australia’s 216 for five. However, before the rain stoppage, the Indians were the better team as their bowlers had pegged back the hosts with two early wickets.
After the match, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni blamed it on the bowlers giving away too many loose deliveries.
The following are excerpts
Michael Clarke: It was nice to win today (Sunday)… A great start… The guys who have been playing the Big Bash were perfectly suited to this game. We executed the plans well. We have so many good players. They have been selected for the first three matches and so they are competing against each other for the remaining matches.
We knew we only had 21 overs after the rain break… Matthew Wade was outstanding on debut… David Hussey continued his form, and Michael Hussey keeps getting runs in all forms of the game.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni: If you see the game, they (the Indian bowlers) bowled too short... Two bowlers (Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin) went for a lot of runs. You do bowl loose deliveries, but some are so loose that they would always go for a four or a six. Today (Sunday) we bowled a lot of those deliveries… Even if it’s a big ground, the execution wasn’t great and that was the reason they could score 216 runs.
It’s a worry... If Jadeja doesn’t bowl well, then the stability of the side is affected. You also need a batsman who can bat at No.7. You need to restrict the opponent, you can’t let them score too many runs, thinking your batters can chase down any total. You have to bowl well for the batters to have a reasonable chance to chase down a total.
As for Ashwin, it’s very difficult. At times, the bowlers don’t bowl well. It has an effect on everyone. He is a good bowler, he has done well… But then it’s his first series in Australia. He is still getting used to it, especially with the white ball and the bounce of the wicket. If you bowl a loose delivery here, more often than not you would be scored off. It could be playing on his mind.
Rahul (Sharma) did a decent job for us… He was someone who was not consistently getting hit. There were a lot of edges which went to places where there were no fielders. The ball went to short fine-leg and there wasn’t anyone... The ball went to mid-wicket and there was no fielder. Overall, he did a good job for us.
We will have to look at the options… If plan A doesn’t work then you have to go with plan B… We also have to look at our resources. We don’t have a fast bowling all-rounder. Irfan (Pathan) has just come in… We have to see if we can have variations.
It’s not about blaming the bowlers... We need to bat as well. There was a moment when we had a good partnership going. There’s a period — between 10-20 overs — where if you don’t lose a wicket, you can chase down a 200-plus total.
It (the omission from playing XI) is not about Sehwag’s injury. Quite a few other players have niggles. If you want to play Rohit (Sharma), an experienced player can come and go out of the side. But for Rohit, it may be tough later, if he doesn’t get going now…
Zak has a problem with his knee… But it’s not a major one and he would be fit for the later games.
Matthew Wade (MoM): I just want to do as well as I can in the three games (I’ve been selected for). If I look too far ahead, you don’t know what’s going to happen. The environment I’m in, it’s all about the next game in the Australian cricket team. I’m obviously enjoying the chance to play for Australia. It’s every kid’s dream to put on the Australian kit and walk out at the MCG. I loving every minute of it.
I definitely feel I’m ’keeping as well as I ever have. Obviously, to be in the environment of the Australian team, I’m catching more balls every day and things are going really well. I feel on top of my game.
The intensity when Mike Hussey walked out and started running between the wickets, there was definitely a step up. Everything is just a bit faster and when you have to run with Mike, it’s even harder.
