MS Dhoni points out reasons behind India not winning against Afghanistan: Dhoni was clear about what India lacked tonight.
Advertisement
During the fifth match of the Super Four stage of the ongoing Asia Cup between India and Afghanistan at Dubai, both the teams were involved in a jittery encounter which ended in a tie, a rare result in ODIs.
After restricting Afghanistan to 252-7 in 50 overs, India stood a handsome chance of winning the match. It was followed by a 110-run opening partnership between Lokesh Rahul and Ambati Rayudu. Not winning the match form that point in time involved serious mistakes from the team.
Notwithstanding the fact that a couple of Indian dismissals took place because of poor umpiring, the team should still have sealed the chase for the target in question wasn’t a monumental one. During the post-match presentation ceremony, Dhoni was asked about his thoughts on what let India down tonight.
“I wouldn’t say we went wrong. It was like a game of golf because we started with a handicap, we rested our main players. It was very important for the fast bowlers to fall back to the back of a length area when there was no swing full. We lost 5-6 overs there”, said India’s stand-in captain.
Apart from criticizing the bowlers, Dhoni also found fault with the batsmen and their choice of shots during the match. “Shot selection is also something we could have done better at as well”, he added.
As much as the Indians fans were let down on not watching India clinch a victory, at the same time, they were rejoiced as well to see Afghanistan play the way they played. Given the way they have played against better ranked teams in this tourney, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Afghanistan deserved this result.
Having lost back-to-back close matches, losing another one might have taken a hit on their morale. Dhoni didn’t fail in his job to wax lyrical about the opposition, saying that the degree to which they have improved in the recent years is worth all this praise.
“I think their cricket has gone up a lot. If you see how they’ve continued playing right from the start of the Cup, it’s been commendable. They’re the one country that has risen through the ranks. Good batting by them – how they fielded, how they bowled was impressive”, Dhoni was quoted.
Afghanistan’s wholehearted effort throughout the Asia Cup earned them massive respect from fans across the globe on social media platform Twitter. Read some of the tweets below:
