We were three bowlers short - Dhoni
The real reasons India's defeat was that the bowlers leaked too many singles in the middle overs
Sambit Bal in Centurion
27-Sep-2009
It couldn't go on for ever, India's freakish dominance over Pakistan in
world events, and it was no disgrace in losing to a team that was better
on the day. But the match was closer than the scoreline suggests and while
it would be tempting to lay the blame on the three mindless moments while
India were batting, the real story was elsewhere.
But let's get the sub-plot out of the way. Gautam Gambhir batted out of his
skin and gave it away. Was he too pumped up for his own good? Did the
Pakistanis get to him? When the bat was doing all the talk, what insanity
to start gesticulating wildly with the handle? And what was he doing charging
down the wicket for what would have, at best, been a high-risk single when fours
and sixes seemed the natural order? And pray, why didn't he put in a dive?
Brain freeze two: In plain disregard of common sense, Virat Kohli, the
young man who some consider the future of Indian batting, decides to take
on Shahid Afridi and the man on the long-off boundary and lofts the ball
straight to him. India were then 126 for 2 off 21.2 overs.
The final act. Rahul Dravid, the last man standing, eases the ball to deep
cover and completes a comfortable two. Harbhajan Singh now wants a third.
Then he doesn't. Now Dravid wants it. Harbhajan is now persuaded. But no,
the ball is on its way now. Dravid turns back, but it's too late, and worse he seems to have pulled something while stretching and he crumples to the ground as the Pakistanis gather a few feet away from him to celebrate. A fan runs on to the field with the Pakistani flag. Soon they would be swamping the ground.
India lost by 54 runs. But 31 balls were still to be bowled. MS Dhoni put India's failed chase down to the loss of too many wickets. It was in stark contrast to Pakistan's calculated, controlled, polished and smooth building of a monumental score.
But it was also true that India let them. Imran Nazir and Karman Akmal had
started sensationally. But they were gone by the ninth over, and between the
eighth and 13th over, only six runs were scored. But once Mohammad Yousuf
arrived, and India were obliged bring on their part-timers and the field
spread, runs were impossible to stop.
At the press conference, Dhoni started by holding the batsmen, including
himself, responsible for the defeat. But the questions about the bowlers
persisted, and once Dhoni started on the subject, he was damning and he held
little back.
"Between the 30th and the 42nd over, we gave away nearly 100 runs. That's too
many runs when the field is spread. That was tough. I have never seen so
many runs scored backward of point. As a captain you can only set the
field, you can't bowl yourself. I think the Pakistan bowlers exploited the
conditions really well. The spinners, the fast bowlers, they bowled in the
areas where they had fielders.
"Losing the toss was a blessing in disguise. Because when we bowled up, it
was tough for them and they played a few shots in the air. But we were
quite consistent in bowling short."
Dhoni started by holding the batsmen, including himself, responsible for the defeat. But the questions about the bowlers persisted, and once Dhoni started on the subject, he was damning and he held little back
Dhoni admitted his bowlers had been fooled into bowling short by the
practice wickets in Johannesburg, where the balls rose sharply. "The
conditions were different here, and we should have adapted. It's about
adaptability and you have to be smart at the international level."
But did he miss a fifth bowler? "At times I felt I was three bowlers
short," he shot back. There were times, he said, he didn't know who go to
or what fields to set. "Wherever I put a fielder, the ball went
elsewhere."
There was only one period, between the eighth and 13th over, when Ashish Nehra
and Ishant Shrama bowled the line and length the pitch demanded. But in
the end only Nehra emerged with credit, and four wickets for his efforts.
RP Singh started by bowling too full and was driven for two fours, which
prompted him to bowl too short and be hit for two more. Ishant's first
ball strayed on Younis Khan's pads and the fourth was short and wide. On
his return spell, he bowled three crass long hops outside the off stump, all of
which were gratefully converted to fours by Shoaib Malik.
And Harbhajan - he had a shocker - straying both in line and length,
and was deftly and mercilessly toyed around by two batsmen who were not
afraid to play against the turn. But even Malik was puzzled that he wasn't
brought in earlier.
Pakistan were 65 for 3 when the Powerplays ended, and instead of
going for the kill, Dhoni chose to bring in his part-timers, including
Virat Kohli, and allowed Malik, who couldn't get even a single away, to then
settle down, and Yousuf to get going right from the start. When Harbhajan
was finally introduced, in the 26th over, Pakistan had reached 108.
Dhoni had his reasons for holding back his premier bowler. "When you bowl
Harbhajan with a part-timer, the batsmen look to score from the other end
and play out Harbhajan. We wanted to force the batsmen to play shots
against him."
Would he have needed to do that if he had another bowling option?
India are not out of the tournament yet. But they have only a day to gather
their wits and reassess their options. The No.1 rank at the ICC table
flatters them at the moment. Their immediate task is to avoid slipping to No.5 or less in this tournament.
Sambit Bal is the editor of Cricinfo