Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has showered praise on his bowlers for keeping the team's World Twenty20 title hopes alive by ensuring an eight wicket defeat of Pakistan. India dismissed Pakistan on Sunday night for a paltry 128, with Lakshmipathy Balaji taking three
for 22, before inform one-drop batsman Virat Kohli tore into the Pakistan attack
in a match-winning unbeaten knock of 78 made off 61 balls.
The knock ensured an emphatic eight-wicket win over Pakistan in the Super Eights stage of the tournament.
Kohli's knock included two sixes and nine fours, and he was ably supported by
Virender Sehwag (29) and Yuvraj Singh's unbeaten 19, as India cruised home with
three overs to spare. Addressing reporters after the match, Dhoni lauded the bowlers,
but added that the performance could be due to several factors. "Well, I think
you know assessing the performance of the bowlers in particular, keeping the last
game in mind, it won't be right. The reason being, I told you, the ball got wet
and it was really difficult for them to bowl their variation," he said. "We have
not got bowlers who bowl 145, we have got bowlers, who were slightly slower, but
at the same time, they have got the skill to get the batsman out. Our problem
starts if there is nothing from the wicket, which means if it is not on the slightly
slower side or if there is no reverse swing or there is no spin, then it becomes
a bit of a concern. If you see this performance, I think today's performance was
a real good one," he added.
Dhoni further said that he did not have any apprehensions
regarding Yuvraj Singh's fitness and added that he has physically fit to play
such format of the game. "Well, when it comes to the fitness, as far as this format
is concerned, he (Yuvraj Singh) looks very fit for this format. I think he has
done a lot in the last few months, it's not like he is playing cricket straightaway
in the T20 World Cup. Before this, he has spent time playing active domestic cricket,
a few T20 games. So, he looks good," he said. I am not really concerned about
his fitness and as I said, this batting will give him lot of confidence, because
if you play in the domestic circuit, you don't get bowlers who bowl at the international
level. So, I think all these matches, he will take a lot of positives out of it
and we all know once he gets going, he is a terrific batsmen to have in the side,"
he added.
Pakistan cricket team captain, Mohammed Hafeez said that their team
was looking for a target of around 150 to 160 runs after deciding to bat first.
"Well, not really, I think today India played better cricket than Pakistan . There
is no doubt, Virat was excellent tonight, but I don't think there is anything.
As far as the body language is concerned, we really wanted to be in the game.
Unfortunately, we were losing wickets on a regular interval. So, we couldn't come
back in the first ten overs. I still think boys really worked hard to give a fight,
but unfortunately, we could not get the wickets. That is the reason, they were
little bit on top and we could not set the total we really wanted to," he said.
Hafeez cited the possible reasons for their lacklustre performance and was all
praises for Kohli and said that he was the one, who led India to win the match.
"We could not achieve our target as batsmen, our aim was 150-160, but we kept
losing wickets and our partnership did not work. At the end, Virat Kohli played
a good innings and made India win the match," he said. India and South Africa
were facing the exit door after Australia 's earlier win over the South Africans
but India 's victory kept Group Two wide open. Australia look virtually certain
to reach the last four and the other three teams all still have a chance of progressing.
