| Font Size |
India lost by 12 runs to South Africa in their final match on Tuesday after chasing just 131 to win, their third defeat in three Super Eight games.
"This was not really expected of us and everyone thought we would do well," Dhoni told reporters.
"It's not about what you can achieve, it's about what you do achieve. We were not really up to the mark or at 100 per cent. Our performance was not up to the international standard."
Dhoni said his players never played consistently.
"There never was a time when the majority of the guys performed in one match, it was usually two bowlers in one game or three in another, with an off-day for a couple of them, or one man scored and the rest didn't so we never performed as a unit," he said.
The honest assessment may take some heat off Dhoni after he received fierce criticism back home but how the team responds to their below-par showing is what matters most.
India, whose players were involved in a tiring six-week Indian Premier League schedule before the World Cup, get a three-day break in England before flying out to the Caribbean for a four-match one-day series against West Indies.
LONG REST
India then have a long rest before the ICC Champions Trophy in September.
"We will be fitter guys because we have a long time in between," Dhoni said. "Even the two or three days off this week at the hotel will be good just to kick away the kit bag.
"Those 10 days in the Caribbean may also be hard to stay in the present and not think about what you will be doing afterwards.
"But after the West Indies tour we will be getting a long break so hopefully after that we will be better prepared for South Africa."
Dhoni also defended the decision to bring injured batsman Virender Sehwag to England even though he was nursing a shoulder injury and eventually had to be replaced without playing a game.
"When the first MRI was done, he didn't have anything back in India," Dhoni said.
"When the next one was done he had the (muscle) tear. At times, you can't say everything because you want the opposition team to still think about Virender Sehwag. Whether he is playing or not you want them to waste that half-an-hour in their team meeting."
Discuss this story on expressindia forums
|
|
At that time i thought that he wants to attain a 100 strike rate but now if he continues to play defensively he will soon fall behind like others such as sourav, rahul .Being a dhoni fan i do not want this to happen. Dhoni said in his interview that he was finding it difficult to hit sixes and fours. Its more related to his batting style. The ability to hit sixes/ fours is still there inside him but since he has started playing defensively over the time his has lost the touch of, being an aggressive player.I know many cricket lovers have a habbit of giving advice to the player but i feel it is the responsibility of the players to listen to the advice and distingush between what is correct and what is wrong. And the rest is the implementation and execution.Finally, All the best Dhoni. I hope that i get to see the old Dhoni back in action.
A flamboyant batsman, knwon for his destrctive and attacking batting style, is turning into a defensive player.Earlier, Dhoni would try to hit six/four on a yorker (I am talking about his helicopter shot) but now all he is trying to do is to rotate the strike, keep taking singles/doubles. I know it is too much to ask to hit six/four on every ball. No one expects this from any batsman. Dhonis batting style has changed completely. Just see the video tapes of his batting style till the last years T20 wold cup and compare it with his batting style nowadays and i am very sure that everyone will conclude that his batting style has changed completely. He has turned from a agrresive player to a defensive player. Dhoni was promoted to captain for his old batting style, ability to hit sixes and fours, keeping calm under pressure situation, winning matches under crucial situations, n ..... . Earlier, he would try to score atleast 1 run per ball (I said atleast. I felt he wanted six a ball).
I love, live, eat, drink and sleep Cricket! I can play Cricket everyday. Infact, at any time of the day. These bunch of Dhoni jokers make millions by playing cricket. Yet they still do not know how to play and how not to play a short ball! It is NOT acceptable. No excuse of IPL or fatuge are just load of BS! Play cricket for Cricket. Not for making money and occupying your slot in the Indian team.
It is not India but the players who failed due to arrogance. When you know the required run rate and there are more batsmen to follow you cannot stay in the wicket but be aggressive. Draw is not an option in this format. But that is exactly what the batsmen did time and again. Were they playing to have high scores for themselves despite the rate of run? Dhoni has not provided the leadership and no excuse can make up for that,
Cricket lovers of this country and BCCI should know that Indian cricket team do not need a coach at all. If we remember, 1983 world cup was won without any coach and first twenty20 world also won, but with indian caoch. why BCCI is spending so much money on coaches. Indian players do not like coaches. They will and has performed very well without a coach. We remember very well when Greg Chappel was the coach for India and we saw the result. And the present result also with Gary as coach. To win next one day world cup, i request BCCI not to appoint any coach, please.
Well said Rizwan.Our India have ISI fobia.Our cricket team were hypnotized by ISI in T20 world cup.Brilliant Pakistan we salute u to qualify for Semi Final even without playing international cricket.
If the team hadn't lost we wouldn't have been able to identify the weakness. I think we should bring in both Sachin (confidence /power shots) and Dravid (confidence/stability). Give it a go for few matches see the outcome..
Mr. Dhoni and Mr. Harbhajansingh,When you are going to our respected President and collect sports award? why is our press quiet on this issue?
To Rizwan, the king of rascals:**** off, you bum. Take care of Taliban who is already taking your pants down everywhere. Do you not have it up to your what you know, to start meddling with us? Or you refuse to relent? Learn man, learn from sources other than Madrassa, OK?
It is not the Indian Team as whole but actually the captain Mr Dhoni himself is not upto the job. He is doing many undesirable interventions in the team like as a dirty politician. He should himself own the responsibility and should be only up to his game and role. He should be told by the BCCI clearly to mind his ways and play as a player but not as a monarch. He should be shown his way.
It's a shame again....I think "Gully Danda" should be declared our national game, I believe our existing team will definitely bring world cup for that.
Surprised why Indian Media is so quiet when every body could clearly see that ISI was involved in Indian Team debacle in T20 World Cup. Wake up you folks before ISI wipe the cricket out of India. Wake up and save Indian cricket from the neferous design of ISI.
Razwan Sahib we are very happy that Pakistan played very well and wish them future success. We also hope that Sirilanka will make it to the finals so that we keep the cup in our region. Obviously as an Indian I would have liked India to win but failing that as an Indian I am very happy for Pakistan. There is absolutely no reason for you to be nasty about Indian failing and your comments are totally uncalled for. Civility is joy of life, I hope one day you may experience it.
The title "India simply not up to scratch, says Dhoni." I am aghast at this irresponsible statement. We lost matches only because of your hopeless captaincy and mindless batting. Don't insult our country's name. Be candid to admit, you are the one who is entirely responsible for our team's debacle. You could not hit out, just get out. There are enough talents in the country to keep our flag flying with pride.
The excuse that indian players were tired because of IPL is crap. Most of the players in other teams also had participated in the IPL. We lost because many of our players including the captain were not focussed.Tey seem to give more importance to thier advertisement shoot than fitness and practice. The insult Mr. Dhoni meted to the president by not attending the award presentation function and attending a shhot is a case in point.
MR. DHONI, YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT LONG REST BEFORE CHAMPIONS TROPHY IN SEPTEMBER, PLEASE ALL ARE ADVISED TO TAKE REST ONLY, NOT DOING AD CAMPAIGN ALL THE TIME TO MAKE YOU EXHAUSTED. PLEASE DON'T FOOL TO ALL OF US
C'mon. Let us face it guys. Its a love triangle between the SERIES, IPL and BCCI. The players and the big bucks sit in the middle of it. IPL has cost us dear in terms of glory, though it paid its owners well. If the player refused to be sold cause he wishes to play for the country, the seller will axe him (cause he aint bringing in money now). If he refuses to play once sold, the owner will axe him and the seller. What should this poor fellow do - lose all his chances and career cause he sounded patriotic? I think there should be a cap on the number of matches allowed for the members of the national squad. Use IPL as a platform for nurturing and discovering new talent rather than draining out the existing one. Someone said that the IPL was a perfect platform to practice before the T20. I laugh at him cause he then doesn't know anything about the IPL - imagine, Mr. Bolt doing a 400m dash a couple of hours before he runs for a 100m race!! I don't blame the players. they've got no choice.
dude i think u r abs right........dere shud b a cap on d no of matches d national playrs play in d ipl nd ipl schedule shud also b chngd b4 such crucial tournaments...frwrd dis 2 as mny as possible
BCCI should accept what the India coach has said - the Indian team have played too much cricket. They looked tired
Excuses, Excuses and Excuses and nothing but excuses. Now they blame the hectic schedule of IPL. If they had not played, they would have said 'we did not have any international exposure'. Best thing to instil motivation desire and improve is to give peformance related payments and reduce the amount in the central contract. The players must be forced to pay part of the endorcement money to the BCCI. The Captain boasts that he has so much money that he can buy several TV sets!!
Sack Doni and include PA Patel as skipper
Sewag injured his shoulder in IPL and we never had a good first wicket partnership with the new combination. Gambhir without Sewag at the other end looked ordinary. Raina got exposed too early because of the absence of Sewag. IPL also created larger than life players who could not measure up. Still BCCI says that IPL is not the reason for the defeat. IPL is the "Cash Cow" and Gary Kirstin or anyone else should not talk about IPL.
This time Dhoni lost his track resulting in India's exit disgracefully. What to talk of last match with South Africa which could be a bit of salvage before leaving foreign shores and there also we failed and coult not reach paltry total of 123 which we should have by 10 wickets. Mr Dhoni getting hat trick of three straight defeats is not on and I remember the olden days of Indian cricket when we always surrendered without giving any solid fight. I know IPL must have taken a great toll on our guys performance, but atleast keep the tempo from the very ball. On our this shocking performance even the minnows are thinking of giving big blow to our established reputation. Dhoni become star overnight and with the last night by losing against South Africa he become villain. If Indians can garland you, they also know how to make you feel very very bad when you and your commandos land back to India. Damage is done and there is no repair for this. Just forget the past and think of recovery.
Uttappam, Kumble, PA Patel are the best players and were missing.
Surely it is a humiliating performance.The problem lies in our psyche.Why should we idolise someone and make him feel invincible and then when he is what he is start abusing him and in the process totally unnerve him.We as Indians are craving for a national identity to unify every indian and other than cricket we have none. Therefore cricket has assumed a alrger than lifesize image and the players are even assuming larger than nationsize images.We must stop both extremes and then only we can be objective about it
i feel indian players should be banned from apprearing in av. or other comercial ventures. ipl look few milloners can make most respected players dace around them. i wonder in ipl for whom they are playing for honour of their nation or states? friend this is simply money game and we should not waste precious sleep to watch them.
dhoni made mistake by changing batting order,so,some of the good form batsmen went out of form and selection of team was bad,especially praveen and irfan should have been replaced instead of ishant and zaheer.