Gwalior, February 24: India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was as specific as ever during the pre-match media conference at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium on Tuesday. Dhoni didn’t try to hide the frustration of losing players to injuries.
“We have got used to the injuries that hampered the team in the last six months…It’s unfortunate but we can’t do much about it and only hope that those who have come in place of them perform well,” he said.
He is quite pleased with young gun Ravindra Jadeja’s performance. “Jadeja has shaped up quite well and in most of the matches he is bowling his full quota of 10 overs. He is a spinning all-rounder for us,” Dhoni said.
The wicketkeeper-batsman, though, was a bit sceptical about the bowlers’ performance in the death overs. “If you give away 80-100 runs in the last 10 overs, it becomes difficult for our batsmen to pull it off. But if we concede some 60-70, it is quite good.”
Dhoni lavished praise on coach Gary Kirsten for his open-mindedness. “The good thing about Gary is that he came with an open mind here and tried to understand the individuals and culture of the country. Another thing about him that impresses me is he is not panicky.”
South African coach Corrie van Zyl didn’t say anything outside expected lines. His focus was on the 2011 World Cup. “We have been given a set of players from which we will have to pick our 15 for the showpiece event,” he said.
–Agencies–