Don’t make big deal out of Virat’s dismissal: Dhoni : The Tribune India

Join Whatsapp Channel

Don’t make big deal out of Virat’s dismissal: Dhoni

SYDNEY: It’s always difficult to take a knockout punch with a smile.

Don’t make big deal out of Virat’s dismissal: Dhoni

MS Dhoni is run out by Glenn Maxwell during their semifinal in Sydney on Thursday. AFP



 Tribune news service 

 

Sydney, March 26 

It’s always difficult to take a knockout punch with a smile. MS Dhoni, however, didn’t let smile leave his face even for a while after the defeat. He, like anyone else, would have been shattered but he chose not to show the hurt. He was as cool and composed as he always is, giving cryptic answer about his ODI future and backing underfire Virat to the hilt.

Excerpts. 

Virat looked under pressure. Was it the pressure of expectation, or was he

not fully fit?

He played a shot that didn't pay off. It happens, it happens to a lot of batsmen. Once the opposition scores over 300 runs and have quality bowlers, at some point of time you have to take that risk. If it pays off, all of a sudden everything changes. He played a shot, it didn't pay off, so that's it. And there were no fitness issues.

Where do you see your career going from here?

It’s an interesting question. It's up to you guys. The media should do a nice research on it, take a few days, and my advice will be whatever you decide, right the complete opposite of it…that will be a fact. It's up to you guys.

Your legacy as an ODI player and skipper will probably be defined by what happened in 2011. 

It doesn't really matter. What's important for me is to contribute to the team’s win. As I see it, the top order has done really well, so at times I don't really get the opportunity. I've been part of series where I've not got to bat. Once I realized it's difficult for the newcomers to bat at 5 and 6, I started pushing them up the order. Virat, Raina, Rohit, Ajinkya… everyone had been pushed up. Apart from that, what people think about me as a player or what I have done, it doesn't really matter because I play for the enjoyment of the game. I don't bother about how many runs I have scored. The day I pack my bags, I pack it, and I'll be happy on my bike.

Did you think the total was chaseable?

Yes, the reason being that I knew the wicket will get slightly better in the second half. The good thing was, we got a bit of reverse swing going, so I felt our fast bowlers could have done slightly better. But once we came back into the game and restricted them to 327, I felt it was a good score but we could chase it down . Yes, there was pressure, and we needed some good batting and good partnerships. It was a gettable score, but it needed some hard work to get the runs.

You left it really late for the chase when you started to attack. What was the thinking behind that?

You know, it's a difficult one because as I said, our lower order have not really been able to contribute. So if you start too early and if you lose a wicket, there’s nothing really left in the game. You get out for 150 maybe. So you have to take that risk at the right time. Maybe it was a bit too late, but if mine and Ajinkya's partnership hadn’t come, we would have packed up for 140 or 150 runs.

Top News

Relief for Delhi CM, High Court bins plea for his ouster

Relief for Delhi CM, High Court bins plea for his ouster

Special court extends Kejriwal’s ED custody till April 1