CHESTER-LE-STREET: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday questioned the third umpire’s controversial decision to rule Rahul Dravid out even though television replays did not show any edge off the bat during his side’s first ODI against England.
“There are quite a few things (about that dismissal). There was no mark on the Hot Spot, no visual deflection and the umpire had given not out. The benefit of doubt in such cases go to the batsman,” Dhoni said at the post-match press conference after the match was abandoned due to heavy rain.
“I still don’t know how exactly he was given out. Whether it was off snickometer; whether snicko is allowed to be used; whether it was an audio technician or a third umpire who gave him out. There are any number of fair questions to be asked; why should not the benefit of doubt go to a batsman?” Dhoni asked.
Dhoni was worried at the ever-growing list of injured players in the Indian camp after Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma joined the casualty list list today.
“We could do with 15 more players, initially I said what could have gone wrong did go wrong. But it has only increased since then,” stated Dhoni.
While Tendulkar has an inflamed right toe, Rohit got his right index finger fractured during the Indian innings.
“Coming from India and performing here straightaway can be difficult. We are fighting with whatever resources we’ve got. May be increasing the strength of the team can be the key. We could look at travelling with 18 players if needed,” he said.
He said India would have won the match had England got only to 20 overs to play and with 164 to win. England were 27 for two in 7.2 overs when rain interrupted and match abandoned later.
“A lot has happened in this series. This alone (abandonment) was left. It could have been difficult for them to get close to 130 runs in 12 overs. It was a difficult target to achieve as we had bowled well in the first seven overs,” he said.
The Indian captain was all praise for his top order batsmen for posting 274 for seven in their allotted 50 overs.
“They (the openers) batted well. What was important was to see off new ball. It initially swings at this time of the year. What we wanted was stable partnership. They were careful initial but then nicely built up their innings. After Rahane was out, Parthiv made sure he had some partnership so that lower order batsmen could come and score runs.
“It was important knock for them.”
If you think, these players will be playing in next 3-4 years time.
They did it against a good bowling attack and when the most experienced players in your side were missing. It’s a big learning experience for them and it would help them in future.”
Dhoni, however, said that his side did not quite capitalize on the fine start of the top order.
“We were a few runs short because we lost Rohit. We wanted to cash in on the slog overs, get as many runs as possible without taking too many risks.” (PTI)