Dhoni annoyed with losing cheap wickets

Cricket365
September 6, 2014

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's good mood about winning the ODI series was slightly dampened by the defeat in the final match, and expressed annoyance that his top order failed to kick on after getting settled.

India fell 41 runs short in Leeds, thus unable to secure a series whitewash. Only Ravi Jadeja managed a big score, making 87, while Ambhati Rayudu was out soon after reaching 50. Their death batting was poor too, with Ben Stokes clearing the pile.

Dhoni said after the match, before celebrating the series win: "We gave away too many wickets, quite a lot of soft dismissals, and because of that we were not able to chase the runs.

"Shikhar, Ambhati, myself, we should not have lost those wickets, in the last ten overs we can get those runs but we lost soft dismissals."

While Dhoni was unhappy with their death batting, he was also not pleased with how many runs his bowlers gave away at the death, with Ben Stokes hitting a fast 33 that put the target out of reach.

He said: "We need to improve our slog, the last ten overs with the bowling, Shami has done a good job but other fast bowlers need to step up. We don't want to concede so many we can't chase them down."

India all-rounder Suresh Raina, who was not in the Test side, was named man of the series, after an impressive effort in all areas, including a century, and handful of wickets, some good catches and a run out from the boundary.

Raina said: "It was good, I've worked hard on my batting, watching the Tests on TV. We got the belief in the ODIs. I worked hard on the mental side and my fitness, looking to bat positive, the circumstances and who you are batting with.

"The World Cup is around the corner, we need to stay positive. We've worked hard on our game and this group has won us the series. The fielding creates a positive environment in the circle and that has been important."