“We have 10 proper fast bowlers and it’s an asset”, MS Dhoni said.
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Mahendra Singh Dhoni was not a very happy man at the end of the second T20 worldwide against West Indies at Ford Lauderdale. India were 15 without loss, after bowling out West Indies for 143 in 19.4 overs, in a match which also started almost an hour late because of issues with the satellite link for the live broadcast.
The short T2O series between India and the West Indies ended with abandonment of the second match, giving the Caribbean a 1-0 series win.
The rain, which lasted for around 20 minutes, left the ground totally wet.
The result of the match could have been decided via the Duckworth-Lewis method, had the match lasted for three more overs. Having won the first T20, West Indies lifted the trophy leaving Indians to rue the rain, wet outfield, and technical delay.
Dhoni on the other hand had no complains about the conditions and facilities on offer. “If you compare the two games, you’d wonder if we were playing on the same wicket!” he exclaimed.
“Yes it will be a bit cramped (sic) for global cricketers but I don’t think the modern cricketers mind it”. The crowd will, nevertheless, feel they have got their moneys worth after witnessing a fantastic display of batting by KL Rahul and Evin Lewis – who scored centuries in the first match – and a brilliant lastover from Dwayne Bravo. “Ultimately the umpires decide so they decide you play, we play”. Dhoni accepted that there was an area of concern close to the bowler’s run-ups, but disagreed with Brathwaite that it was a “big concern”.
Carlos Brathwaite, leading the West Indies for the first time after the sacking of Darren Sammy, also looked forward to returning to Florida.
“So, in my opinion, it was unsafe.”
“Looking from the pavilion, the run-ups on that side and just beside the sponsor’s [painted ad on field] plus probably mid-on and then there was a little patch on the [west] side looking from the pavilion again”.
“So, in my opinion, it was unsafe, and even if the run-ups were good and a guy hits a ball in the outfield in a fast-paced T20 game and he chases behind it and pulls something, that could be the end of a guy’s career. Now we will be playing a lot of matches, so we can rotate our fast bowlers if we want to”, he observed. “In my opinion, I don’t think it was and the umpires also made that decision as well”.
Although the result was disappointing, Dhoni said that the Indian team would like to come to the US and play more in the future.
“We did take a bit of risk with Mishra coming in replacing Binny because we were one batsman short”.
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Before rain played spoilsport, the match started after a delay of nearly 40 minutes. The Men in Blue looked all set to level series after a good bowling show, before there was a severe downpour two overs into India’s run-chase.
