Indian Cricket Team in Dire Need of Effective Middle Order, Mahendra Singh Dhoni Says After Third ODI Defeat
Mahendra Singh Dhoni says it became difficult to play the big shots in the Rajkot pitch, during the third ODI. He added that some of the batting positions in the team were still not settled.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Sunday again expressed his helplessness about still not being able to find out which of his batsmen can fit in the middle order and finish games in close run chases. (India vs South Africa: Third ODI highlights)
"We are looking for batsmen to play at Nos 5, 6 and 7. Till they play there, we won't know who is a good bet over there. And we are looking to give chances as well so it's a tricky one," Dhoni said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Elaborating as to what he meant by tricky, the skipper said that some of the players are not getting runs when their batting orders are reshuffled.
"Jinx (Ajinkya Rahane) batted well at No 3 but Virat couldn't score, this is something we will have to look at," Dhoni said.
Dhoni said that the wicket became slower than what they had expected and the dew factor also did not come into play.
"I thought 270 was a par score, the wicket kept getting lower and slower and the dew didn't help us out. It became a bit two-paced and become difficult to play the big shot. I thought our bowlers did well, maybe a bit more dew would have made it difficult. They (SA) batted when the wicket was at its best and they also couldn't find runs at the death," the skipper reasoned.
Man of the match Morne Morkel said that he tried variations that worked.
"Really worked hard this week on mixing it up a bit. I'm a rhythm bowler and need things to click to operate. We had a couple of gameplans and it is important to execute and we did that," said Morkel.
About Virat Kohli's dismissal, Morkel said:"I suppose you live by the sword, you die with the sword, he (kohli) is a big hitter down the ground and had to vary it. Every time I do well, especially against India is very special. And it will last with me forever."
ODI skipper AB de Villiers was happy that Quinton de Kock proved his critics wrong with a century.
"It was a very special batting performance. Quinton answered a lot of questions just like what Quinton can do. We struggled between the 37th and 44th over but found our way at the end. To have Miller up front was 'Out of the Box' thinking from us. We were looking at 250 as a par, the way we fought back with the ball was special."