Ranchi: India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has said the inexperienced middle-order needs more time to settle after India lost to New Zealand by 19 runs, failing to chase down a modest target of 261 runs in the fourth One Day International (ODI).
“Batting down the order on wickets like these when you’re chasing is always going to be tough. You will have to give them time. They will find their way. After they get more and more games like these they will figure out what suits best for them to chase a total,” he said after the match on Wednesday.
“On a wicket like this, when the score was not too much, you need partnerships. With two new balls, it comes on to bat better initially. The wicket slows down. It does not come on to the bat that well. It was a difficult phase and it becomes difficult to rotate,” he added.
The captain said the job of a batting finisher is not easy.
Dhoni has said that the job of a finisher is one of the toughest and it is difficult to find a ‘complete’ player, who is adept at batting in lower order and take the team through when the chips are down.
“Batting down the order is one of the toughest things to do especially on wickets like these. There will be pressure to rotate, to get a partnership. It’s not easy. You don’t always get a player who’s complete and bats at no 5, 6 or 7,”
Ajinkya Rahane (57) and Virat Kohli (45) gave India a good start but their chase went haywire, ultimately folding for 241 in 48.4 overs despite being 128-2 at one point.
Lower down the order, Axar Patel (38) and Amit Mishra (14) revived India’s hopes briefly. But before they could convert it into a match-winning partnership Mishra was run out.
“When you have partnerships going a lot of stuff becomes easier. If you lose wickets at that point of time, it adds to the pressure. Bowlers tend to bowl in right areas and becomes difficult,” Dhoni added.
With this win, New Zealand levelled the five-match series 2-2 and now head to Visakhapatnam for the final one-dayer on Saturday.
One of the best run chasers in world cricket, Kohli was caught behind in his attempt to cut a wide delivery from leg-spinner Ish Sodhi and his rare failure coincided with India losing the match.
Asked whether India were heavily reliant on Kohli, Dhoni said: “It’s not like that. The stats don’t exactly reflect the exact scenario.”
India have not won a bilateral series since November 2014, if one discounts the two clean sweeps against Zimbabwe in July 2015 and June 2016.
Star batsman Kohli was caught behind in his attempt to cut a wide delivery from leg-spinner Ish Sodhi and his failure coincided with India losing the match.
Asked whether India were heavily reliant on Kohli, Dhoni said: “It’s not like that. The stats don’t exactly reflect the exact scenario.”
The five-match series is currently locked at 2-2 with the final ODI to be played on Saturday in Visakhapatnam.
