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Fielding is what makes Dhoni worried ahead of 2nd ODI
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday urged his teammates not to spill at least the sitters when they clash with Sri Lanka in the second ODI.
- Press Trust of India
- Updated: December 17, 2009 01:55 PM IST
Read Time: 2 min
Nagpur:
The butter-fingered Indian fielders have put up a messy show in the last few international matches and Dhoni said it was time for improvement.
"At international level we were fielding well in patches and not dropping catches. You may drop the odd difficult catch but straightforward chances need to be taken. In the last three-four games we have dropped a lot of regulation catches.
Of course it is a botheration," Dhoni said.
"At the same time it will be solved at some point of time because of the effort that we are putting in. We are hoping we don't drop catches in this game," the captain added.
Dhoni was though happy with the way Indian pace bowlers performed in tense moments of the thrilling first one-dayer.
"It was one of the best in the past one year. I have always said we had not been very consistent with the death bowling. In the last game, in the last five overs we gave away only 27 runs. It was a very good effort.
"Ashish (Nehra) bowled five overs in a row. There was a bit of reverse swing going which actually helped us a bit.
Overall in the last game the death bowling was fantastic," he said.
"You expect dew at this time of the year but because of the spray, the rope (to clear dew drops away) and super-sopper that goes around the field, I don't think it will have a big impact," Dhoni said.
The India captain said the visitors would miss both Muttiah Muralitharan and Dilhara Fernando who have been ruled out of the entire series due to finger injuries.
"Dilhara is a good death bowler. He's got a bit of pace and a good slower delivery that he uses well. Of course they will miss him.
"Muralitharan is a great bowler whatever the format. If he's missing it will hamper them a bit. At the same time they have got good spinner in the side. Ajantha Mendis is there."
Concerned over the continuously dipping standard of their fielding, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday urged his teammates not to spill at least the sitters when they clash with Sri Lanka in the second ODI here.The butter-fingered Indian fielders have put up a messy show in the last few international matches and Dhoni said it was time for improvement.
"At international level we were fielding well in patches and not dropping catches. You may drop the odd difficult catch but straightforward chances need to be taken. In the last three-four games we have dropped a lot of regulation catches.
Of course it is a botheration," Dhoni said.
"At the same time it will be solved at some point of time because of the effort that we are putting in. We are hoping we don't drop catches in this game," the captain added.
Dhoni was though happy with the way Indian pace bowlers performed in tense moments of the thrilling first one-dayer.
"It was one of the best in the past one year. I have always said we had not been very consistent with the death bowling. In the last game, in the last five overs we gave away only 27 runs. It was a very good effort.
"Ashish (Nehra) bowled five overs in a row. There was a bit of reverse swing going which actually helped us a bit.
Overall in the last game the death bowling was fantastic," he said.
"You expect dew at this time of the year but because of the spray, the rope (to clear dew drops away) and super-sopper that goes around the field, I don't think it will have a big impact," Dhoni said.
The India captain said the visitors would miss both Muttiah Muralitharan and Dilhara Fernando who have been ruled out of the entire series due to finger injuries.
"Dilhara is a good death bowler. He's got a bit of pace and a good slower delivery that he uses well. Of course they will miss him.
"Muralitharan is a great bowler whatever the format. If he's missing it will hamper them a bit. At the same time they have got good spinner in the side. Ajantha Mendis is there."
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