LEEDS: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said his side’s pacemen would need to hone their skills bowling in the ‘slog overs’ if the world champions were to defend their title in Australia and New Zealand early next year.
Dhoni’s men suffered a 41-run defeat by England in the fifth and final one-day international at Headingley on Friday but still took the series 3-1 after a trio of crushing wins.
“Three hundred was par score today (Friday), and we gave away quite a few soft wickets in the middle order,” Dhoni said.
“We lost too many wickets and were not in a position to chase the runs, so those dismissals really cost us the game.”
The likes of pacemen Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami were able to take early wickets and then let the spinners take over for much of the series. It was a tactic that worked well until Friday.
However, pitches and overhead conditions are likely to be very different ‘Down Under’ when the World Cup starts in February, although India will first have the benefit of a tri-series in Australia also featuring England.
“I think slog bowling is something which I would like to improve as a team because the conditions in Australia and New Zealand will be very different,” Dhoni said.
“In New Zealand, there are not many games (for India) but the grounds are not very big.
“So we cannot use spinners too much after the 40th over.
“To some extent it will put extra pressure on the fast bowlers to stand up and take more responsibility.”
AFP
