Dhoni shoulders the blame for T20 defeat

Cricket365
September 8, 2014

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni tried to win the T20 against England with his own bat, but his risk didn't pay off and they lost by three runs, but he took full responsibility for it afterwards.

India needed 17 runs off the last over, which Chris Woakes bowled. Dhoni reduced that to needing five off the last two, and then turned down a single that would have made it four off the last, which Ambhati Rayudu would have needed to score.

But Dhoni did not leave it up to his team-mate, opting to try and hit a six off the last ball, but could only get a single. He took the blame himself though, saying it was his job to end the game.

Dhoni said after the match: "Getting 17 runs off 6 balls is always difficult. I got a boundary off the first ball. There was pressure but there were two more balls I could have hit.

"It was just one of those days when I couldn't middle it. I got the toe end of the bat on the ball. You have to take the onus and take responsibility as well.

"Rayudu had just come in to bat. He is not someone who is used to batting at number six or seven and can hit the ball straightaway. He wasn't middling a lot of deliveries.

"So it was a better option for me to take all the strike and that's what I thought. But it didn't pay off.

"I had decided before the start of the over that I will try to finish it. It is important to back yourself. Rayudu could also have done it but this is my strength and I took responsibility for it."

While India lost the Test series three-one, and the T20, Dhoni was still happy with the way the tour went overall, saying his young players learned a lot, most having never toured England, and would take the lessons forward.

He said: "Overall we had many youngsters on this tour. Five Test series can be tough. None of our players had played five Tests in a series before.

"We did well in the first two matches, but in the last three we couldn't do well. After that it was important to do well in the ODIs and we did do that.

"In the middle of the tour there were 20-25 days that we didn't play good cricket. It happens with every side and it is important to learn from what we experienced here.

"We have West Indies and Australia after this, so if we can implement the learning there, I will be satisfied."