MS Dhoni, India’s limited-overs captain, disagreed with his counterpart Carlos Brathwaite’s statement that certain sections of the outfield didn’t show any discernible improvement after an incessant 15-minute thunderstorm resulted in the second Twenty20 International (T20I) played at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground in Lauderhill to be called off, with the visitors well placed at 15 for 0 in chase of 144.
The 35-year-old Indian captain cited the One-Day International (ODI) leg of India’s tour of England in 2011 where the visitors had apparently played in worse conditions as an example to illustrate his point.
“What the umpires told us was that there was not adequate equipment over here and the condition of it (ground) was quite bad, so because the conditions wouldn’t improve we won’t be able to play a game,” Dhoni told reporters after the second T20I was washed off on Sunday (August 28). “That’s a call that the match officials have to make. I’ve played close to 10 years of international cricket and frankly I’ve played under worse conditions.
“If I remember in 2011, the whole ODI series that we played in England, it was literally playing under the rain. Ultimately the umpires decide, so they decide you play, we play. If they say okay it was unfit for play, it was unfit for play,” he observed.
The downpour had also left a few puddles on the west side of the ground, near the inner circle. Dhoni, on his part, pointed out that those puddles hadn’t formed anywhere near the bowler’s run-up. “It was on this [west] side where me and Bravo were standing but it was far away from all the run-ups of the bowlers. There is no Shoaib Akhtar in their team so I don’t think it was a big concern.”
When asked about the Indian team’s impressive performance in the second T20I after they slipped to a gut-wrenching one-run defeat in the first game, Dhoni praised the well-executed all-round show by the bowlers. He also indicated that picking another spinner in the form of Amit Mishra helped the Indian setup skittle out the Caribbean side for a modest total of 143.
“I don’t think the wicket changed a lot. It is same as the last wicket. It is the exposure that they had in the last game, it gave them the ability to go back and think about their own game plan and often when there is no break between two matches, it actually helps the bowlers to quickly go back and plan.
“It is the execution that matters and I think it was great. Addition of a spinner also paid off well. Mishra bowled really well. I felt it was the whole bowling unit that restricted them to 140 odd, it was a brilliant effort,” Dhoni noted.
Dhoni also reckoned that the Indian Test side was shaping up well, and sees the battery of fast bowlers as an asset.
“I think the Indian Test team is shaping up well. If you notice, for the last two and a half years, we have had the same batting unit, barring one or two changes. So you learn a lot. Test remains the ultimate format,” he said.
“On top of it, one plus point is that all our fast bowlers are fit now and the way they are bowling. We have 10 proper fast bowlers and it’s an asset. Now we will be playing a lot of matches, so we can rotate our fast bowlers if we want to,” Dhoni summed up.
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