Dhoni: Ashwin could not grip the wet ball

India

India captain MS Dhoni has defended his decision not to bowl spinner Ravi Ashwin his full quota of overs as the hosts lost their World T20 semifinal against the West Indies in Mumbai on Thursday.

Ashwin is considered as India's main strike bowler in the T20I cricket, especially in subcontinent conditions, but the right-arm off-break bowler only delivered two overs which went for 20 runs.

The India skipper explained that the ball was wet because of dew on the outfield and the slow bowlers were struggling to grip the ball as the Windies won by seven wickets with two balls to spare.

Dhoni said after the game: "The seam gets wet and the surface becomes a bit greasy so it comes onto the bat nicely.  

"Ash only bowled two overs, [Ravindra] Jadeja we were forced to bowl the last quota of his overs otherwise he would have only bowled three overs.

"It was not in my mind [to give Ashwin the ball], looking at Russell and the big hitters and the amount of purchase there was on offer. That was not the best time for him to bowl.  

"When the wicket is turning I like to take that gamble of keeping a few overs of the spinner [in reserve] so that if needed, I can make him bowl."

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