Tag: Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has hailed Ravindra Jadeja for his brilliant knock in the second ODI against England which was played at Nehru Stadium, Kochi.

Jadeja batted superbly in the death overs and scored 61 run of just 37 balls with the help of 8 fours and 2 sixes. After playing a blistering knock, Jadeja did a fine job with the ball as well. He bowled 7 overs and gave away only 12 runs.  He took a couple of wickets as well. Jadeja’s effort helped India in securing an easy victory over England. India won the match easily by 127 runs.

When asked about Jadeja’s performance, Dhoni said, “It was a fine knock. His shot selection was superb today and that was nice to see. More often than not, he gets out playing bad shots. But, today, he played with a calm head.”

“He bats at no. 7 which is vital position. It is important for him to score runs consistently.  His performance with the ball has been fine, but, he hasn’t managed to perform consistently with the bat. So, it’s good that he played a decent knock today. Hopefully, his form would remain good in the remaining matches of the series as well.”

When asked about the pitch, Dhoni said, “It was a perfect test match wicket. There was something in it for everyone. There was a bit of seam movement and the odd ball was turning as well. But, the batsmen could also score runs on that pitch after getting their eye in.”

“In the first 10 overs, the fast bowlers were swinging the ball and it was not easy for the openers to negotiate them. We could easily have lost 3-4 wickets during that period, but, Kohli and Yuvraj batted well and provided a good platform to the upcoming batsmen.”

The skipper of the Indian cricket team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has said that he is satisfied with the performance of the Indian team in the first test match against New Zealand at Hyderabad. India won the first test match against New Zealand by an inning and 115 runs. The Indian team completely outplayed the Kiwis in all the three departments of the game. The performance of the Indian team was disastrous in the last test series against Australia. The Indian team had lost that series by 4-0.  So, Dhoni would have been quite relieved after returning to the winning ways again.

The Indian captain seemed to be quite impressed by the young classical batsman Cheteshwar Pujara who scored his maiden test century in the Hyderabad test match. Dhoni said that Pujara has got the correct technique to bat at no.  3. He has got a very solid defense and he rarely plays a rash shot. He uses his feet very well against the spinners and he also doesn’t struggle against the short, rising deliveries unlike some of the young Indian batsmen.

The off spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin, also performed brilliantly in the Hyderabad test match. Ashwin took 6 wickets in each inning. On being asked about Ashwin’s performance, Dhoni said that Ashwin is a tall off spinner. So, he gets a lot of bounce. He also turns the ball both ways. So, it is not easy to pick him. On top of that, he is a very intelligent bowler and he mixes up his length very well. As per Dhoni, Ashwin has got the capability to become a great spinner. On being asked whether Raina would be dropped in the second test match after another failure in Hyderabad test, Dhoni said that Raina has been one of the most consistent performers for India in ODI cricket in the last few years. He is still pretty young and he has got the talent to become a good test batsman. He should be given some more chances to prove his worth in the test team.