Sydney: Indian skipper MS Dhoni has said he was disappointed on missing out a second successive ODI World Cup final, after his side lost to co-hosts Australia in the second semi-final here on Thursday.
“Before the start of the tournament, we had a lot of problems to deal with, cricketing problems, form of players, etc. The Test matches didn’t go our way, the tri-Series didn’t go our way, so it was important to have a good dressing room atmosphere, and all the members, including the support staff, they were just brilliant because if you have a good dressing room atmosphere it’s slightly easier to come back into form,” said Dhoni at the post-match press conference. “I felt everybody rose up to the occasion, how the fast bowlers bowled throughout this tournament, how the spinners have done, learning from all their past experiences when we toured outside. All of that together sums up the kind of performance that we have given in this tournament. Disappointed we couldn’t go into the finals, but only one team can win, and I felt they played better cricket on the day,” he added.
India had Australia on the run after a 182-run stand between Smith and Aaron Finch, reducing them to 248/5 at one stage. But crucial cameos from James Faulkner and Mitchell Johnson pushed them past 320-mark.
“When we lost the toss, I was a bit worried where I thought maybe the spinners wouldn’t get as much purchase, but I felt Jadeja and Ashwin bowled well. And in hindsight we got a bit of reverse swing going, so I felt our fast bowlers could have done slightly better because I knew in the second half there wouldn’t be much of reverse swing,” Dhoni said. (UNI)
