India vs South Africa 2013-14: MS Dhoni blames bowlers for defeat in 1st ODI

Johannesburg: Dec 6, 2013
A livid Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni squarely blamed his bowlers for the crushing loss in the opening One-Day International (ODI) against South Africa, saying that their bad performance left the batsmen under pressure.

The Indian bowlers were hammered by South Africa, who posted 358 for 4 before dismissing the visitors for 217 in 41 overs on Friday.
“Overall I think it was a bad performance. But it started with the bowling initially. This was not a 300-plus wicket. We didn’t start well, and we were supposed to bowl slightly up,” said Dhoni.
“Watch Free Live Streaming of India vs South Africa Series 2013”
“Experience of these conditions is crucial. South African bowlers know what lengths to bowl and that is why I want my bowlers to step up. You can’t give away 300 or 300-plus runs, because that also puts pressure on the batsmen.
“Right from the start then, they have to go after opposition bowlers, which in these conditions is slightly difficult. At the same time, we needed the batting to back the bowlers up,” he added.
South Africa’s opening pair of Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock added 152 runs for the first wicket, with the latter going on to score 135.
And then in the end, there was the cruel barrage from AB de Villiers and JP Duminy, garnering 48 runs in the last three overs. It meant the Proteas reached a mammoth 358 for 4 in 50 overs.
“If you see death bowling for different teams across the world, bowlers are going for runs. With the extra fielder inside the circle and the lack of reverse swing, even the best bowlers will go for runs,” Dhoni said.
“So, the new ball bowling becomes important, especially in conditions like these. More often than not, the last ten overs will go for runs and so it is important to take wickets in the first ten overs, so we can put pressure in the middle overs and so that they do not have many wickets in the end,” he opined.
On paper, it looked a good plan, but it wasn’t executed properly on the field. All frontline bowlers went for more than 50 runs each, with only Mohammad Shami showing any wherewithal to take wickets (3-68).
As per Dhoni’s reasoning then, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohit Sharma were the most to blame, but he did not single out anyone in particular for criticism.
“Mohit is the one with the inexperience and it will be a good learning for him. Bhuvi has played a fair bit outside the subcontinent, which means that he should quickly adapt to the conditions.
“But at the same time let’s not be unfair on him. It’s one of many games where he has not done really well. So let us think that it was an off day for him and move on,” he said.
Ultimately, even the Indian batting, growing in stature and fame over the past 11 months, failed to perform the rescue act. And it could possibly get tougher in the next game, since the Men in Blue will be fighting to save the series. The conditions, meanwhile, aren’t expected to be a whole lot different.
“International calendar doesn’t allow for too many practice sessions and practice games nowadays. You have to adapt with what you have, we have to follow the schedule.
South Africa have some really good fast bowlers, especially Dale Steyn.
“He was swinging the ball and consistently hitting the good lengths. Morne Morkel gets a lot more bounce than other bowlers because of his height. Rohit Sharma gave him respect, but when you are chasing 350 runs, you have to play shots.
Shikhar Dhawan didn’t really get out to a short ball,” Dhoni said.
“He is good with the cut and the pull, and he went with his instincts. So, you have to play the big shots and try to rattle the bowlers. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn’t.
“We scored 220 odd runs, and we gave away 350. If I weigh that, then maybe the bowling was slightly worse than batting.
We have to step up overall. Bowlers have to learn from this game and batsmen have to mentally prepare themselves for the next one,” Dhoni signed off.

India vs South Africa 2013-14: Playing in foreign conditions a big challenge, says MS Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni says playing in alien conditions and that too without Sachin Tendulkar is a big challenge for his side but the Indian skipper is hopeful that playing One—Day Internationals (ODI) first will allow his batsmen settle well ahead of the Test series against South Africa. India will play three—match ODI series ahead of two—Test series in South Africa.
“If you see there is always a new start,” Dhoni said about absence of Tendulkar, who retired recently last month.
Dhoni said his batsmen have plenty of experience in the shorter format of the game and playing ODIs first will give them confidence for the Tests.
“Many of them have had good exposure if not in Tests, but in ODIs. It is a new challenge for all of them and a new learning curve. It is always a challenge when you go outside.
Which length to bowl and to adjust to the bounce of the wickets. It is good to start with ODIs. As the batsmen can play their shots and express themselves and carry it into the Tests,” he said ahead of team departure.
Asked who will perform the duties of the third opener in Tests, which has only two regulars in Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay, Dhoni surprised everyone by naming Gautam Gambhir, who is not part of the 17—member squad.
“If you see, Gautam is definitely our third opener that we are considering. As of now, Vijay and Shikhar they have done really well for us. So third opener as of now is Gautam.”
Later he clarified, “I know (Gambhir not being in team) but he is the third opener. But he never asked if he is part of the team.”
Nevertheless, the statement by Dhoni makes it clear that Gambhir is still in the scheme of things for at least Test side. Asked who was likely to replace Tendulkar at number four in the Test squad, Dhoni they are to yet to decide on that.
“We are not decided on number 4. No one is going to replace anyone else,” he said before adding in lighter vein, “If possible we will omit the number 4. And try to bat 1,2,3, 5,6… and 12.”
Bowling in slog overs has been a worry for India but Dhoni was hopeful of a better performance in South Africa.
“In different conditions the statistics would be different. There will be pace and bounce on offer for the fast bowlers. Along with the yorkers, they can use bouncers and a little bit pace. So we will see how it goes,” he said.
“In the last few matches it has improved a lot but we are trying to see how to improve (more), so that we don’t give lot of runs in the last 10 overs. If you see our Champions Trophy performance and if you compare our death bowling you will see that it is a completely different scenario.
“The ideal would be to compare how the Indian bowlers performed in the last 10 overs and how Australian bowlers performed in the death overs in the same game. Then it becomes more realistic.”
Dhoni said fans will see good cricket in the series as top two sides in the world will be up against each other.
“If you see both the teams are well positioned in the rankings. In ODIs it is us and in Tests it is they. It is going to be exciting and interesting series. The key is getting adjusted to conditions as early as possible,” Dhoni said.
“They have a very good team, well balanced team, with genuine all—rounders,” he said.
Dhoni said pressure was nothing new to India. “Pressure goes hand in hand whether in India or away.”
Asked if the team would use a fifth frontline bowler, Dhoni said it would be decided later. “Well it’s something that we have to go there and decide.
We have to see the strength of our batting line up. At the same time whether four bowlers are good enough to get the opposition out. It’s something that we have weigh out,” he said.
“In the last Test match also we played with four bowlers and Rohit Sharma was the one who batted at number six. If you see at times five batsmen are not enough, even six are not enough. And if you see the last two Test matches, the number six batsman has had a lot of impact on the game. We will weigh how it is and then decide.”
Asked about Ravichandran Ashwin‘s limited exposure of playing Tests overseas, Dhoni expressed hope that the off-spinner will replicate his home success abroad.
“Everybody starts from scratch, even the greatest of cricketers—spinner or fast bowler. They always start from scratch. We have to see, may be he turns out to be brilliant outside India. He may become better than what he already has been in India. Unless you go out there and fight it out, you don’t really get to know how good he is,” said Dhoni.
Ashwin has played only three Tests overseas —all in Australia —with limited success in his short career of 18 Tests from which he has grabbed 104 wickets. Asked what would be the role of pacer Ishant Sharma, Dhoni said “let it remain a secret recipe”.

India retain 2nd spot in ICC Test rankings

The Indian cricket team continued to be second in the ICC Test rankings with R Ashwin topping the all-rounders' chart in the latest list issued.

India are placed behind South Africa with 119 points, which is just 12 less than the Proteas' tally. The teams are set to clash in a two-Test and thee ODI series starting December 5 in South Africa.

Cheteshwar Pujara is the best-placed Indian batsman at sixth with Virat Kohli following him at a distant 20th spot.

In the bowlers' list, R Ashwin is fifth, followed by Pragyan Ojha at ninth.

Meanwhile, New Zealand and the West Indies will begin their contest in a three-Test series from December 3 in Dunedin with an aim to improve their ratings points in the team standings, the ICC said in a statement.

West Indies enter the series in sixth position on 95 ratings points, while New Zealand start off in eighth place with 75 ratings points.

If New Zealand was to win the series by a margin of 2-0, they can rise up to 82 ratings points, while a 3-0 series sweep will hand the home team a rise of eight ratings points to thereby finish at 83.

In both scenarios (New Zealand winning 2-0 and 3-0), West Indies will move down to seventh place behind Sri Lanka.

If New Zealand win the series by either 1-0 or 2-1, or even if the series is drawn 0-0 or 1-1, there will be no change in West Indies' final position on the table.

For the West Indies, the series offers an opportunity to reduce the gap with fifth-ranked Australia. But this can only happen if they win the series by either a 2-0 or 3-0 margin.

If West Indies win the series by a 2-0 margin, they will gain two ratings points to end at 97, to thereby reduce the gap with fifth-ranked Australia to four ratings points.

A 3-0 series win, will give West Indies a gain of four ratings points, thereby reducing the gap with Australia to just two.

India in South Africa - the ODI Story- Photos

India's best ODI run in South Africa came during the 2003 World Cup when they reached the final.

The closest India came to winning a bilateral ODI series in South Africa was in 2010/11 under MS Dhoni, but lost that five-match series 2-3 in the end.

The three-match series is the shortest India will be playing in South Africa. Before this, the least ODIs they played in a bilateral series was four (lost 0-4) in 2006-07.

 India have never scored 300 in an ODI in South Africa, with their highest being 279 (2001/02) and lowest 91 (2006/07).

After South Africa's re-introduction to international cricket, India first toured there in 1992-93 when SA were captained by Kepler Wessels. However, the visitors got hammered 2-5 in the seven-match series.

Will India break 21-year ODI jinx in South Africa?

Six back-to-back ODI trophies in 11 months across four continents should easily qualify as Indian cricket's finest hour since those run-of-the-mill tours of England and Australia in 2011-12. But winning an ODI series in South Africa will be a first that India has tried in vain for 21 years.

Not just India, South Africa dominated almost every visitor since their re-entry into international cricket - until Pakistan arrived this year. The Pakistanis created history and exposed some chinks in the Proteas' armour with a 2-1 series win. That has added strength to India's conviction that the South African fortress is not unconquerable.

For the first time, India will travel to South Africa as world champions and under a leader who is the only one to have won all three ICC trophies - World Twenty20 (2007), World Cup (2011) and Champions Trophy (2013). Add the Test mace to that and it becomes an enviable captaincy record.

It was Dhoni who broke the ODI jinx in Australia by winning the Commonwealth Bank tri-series in 2007/08, and the current team and its form offers Dhoni the chance to do the same on what is possibly his last tour of South Africa.

I am going to play my shots in South Africa: Shikhar Dhawan

Listen carefully to Shikhar Dhawan and you can hear echoes of Virender Sehwag. “I am a stroke player.” “I am going to play my shots.” “I will back my strengths.” Dhawan comments were made at an event in Mumbai yesterday as the new brand ambassador for Fashion @ Big Bazaar, but most of the questions directed his way were naturally about India’s upcoming tour of South Africa. His answers made it clear that confidence was not something he, or the team, is lacking, as they contemplate facing Dale Steyn and company on their home turf.

Given Dhawan’s spectacular 2013, that is not altogether surprising. He has scored 1,150 runs with five hundreds at an average of 54.76 and a strike-rate of 98.12. In successful chases, Dhawan averages 64.60 with a strike-rate of 98.62.

While his stroke-play does not resemble Sehwag’s, both men share a common attitude. They like to attack; they like to play strokes on both sides of the wicket; they can transform good deliveries into bad.

The speed at which both men score their runs has also allowed India to win matches that otherwise would have been out of reach. When India chased down 360 and 351 against Australia in the recent home one-day series, it was Dhawan who made 95 and 100 out of the gate to give Virat Kohli and company the platform they needed to complete the job. Dhawan’s scoring-rate also takes the pressure off Rohit Sharma, who can then build his innings in a more measured way, which is how Rohit prefers to bat.

Together, Dhawan, Rohit and Kohli have given India arguably the best top three in ODI cricket today. All three have scored over 1000 runs this year with averages over 50, resulting in some record-breaking performances.

“We have been playing good cricket,” Dhawan said. “We are confident. As a team we are gelling well.”

The big hurdle for Indian batsmen travelling to Australia and South Africa has always been combatting bounce. Opposing fast bowlers know this and so their pitch map tends to bunch up short of a length. Dhawan, on the contrary, likes to drive on the up and is happy to cut and pull.

“I think bouncy tracks suit my game,” he said simply.

Being part of the India A tour of South Africa earlier this year has also helped Dhawan. Not only does he have a sense of the conditions he might face, he has the knowledge that he can score big runs. Against South Africa A in the limited-overs tournament that also featured Australia A, Dhawan plundered 248, which is a record for a List A game. In four matches, he made 410 runs as India won the tournament.

“I played there for India A. I did really well,” he said matter-of-factly.

South Africa just lost an ODI series at home to Pakistan for the first time in their history. India might be light on experience but this young team has won six limited-overs series on the trot and is bursting with confidence. As a result they are unafraid of facing anybody, anywhere in the world.

“We’re up for it against South Africa,” Dhawan said.

Stop Tendulkar praise, say Pakistani Taliban

The Pakistani Taliban have warned their country's media to stop praising Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar

The Pakistani Taliban have warned their country's media to stop praising Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, who retired this month after a glittering 24-year career.

A spokesman for the militants said Pakistanis should get behind their embattled captain Misbah-ul-Haq, even though he was a "substandard and low-level player".

Newspapers and TV stations across South Asia have been plastered with tributes to master batsman Tendulkar, who bowed out on November 16 as the world's leading run-scorer in both Test and one-day cricket.

Pakistan and India share one of the fiercest rivalries in world sport and the near-universal outpouring of praise for Tendulkar, the only man to score 100 international centuries, was a rare moment of agreement.

But Shahidullah Shahid, the main spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said it was time for Pakistanis to shut up about the "Little Master".

"There is an Indian cricket player called Tendulkar. He has been exceedingly praised by Pakistani media and also praised by a lot of Pakistanis," Shahid said in a video message, flanked by two masked men with AK-47s.

"Now someone should tell Pakistani media and other Pakistanis that no matter how good Tendulkar is, they should not praise him, it is against Pakistani nationalism and against loyalty to the country."

SAURAV GANGULY SAYS HE IS OPEN to COACH to INDIAN TEAM

Savrav Ganguly says he is open to coach Team India

Barely four years into retirement, Sourav Ganguly has expressed his desire to wear India Blue once again, though in a different role. The former India captain, once an advocate of foreign coaches, has indicated he isn’t averse to coaching the Indian team in the near future.

“Obviously, I have interest in coaching but only time will tell what can happen in future. If the BCCI feels that I can be a good coach, I will be ready. I feel I can create a difference in terms of the ability, form and development of the players. That will be the way for me to repay the game,” Ganguly told the news channel AAJ TAK.

VVS Laxman could not get in touch with me to inform about his retirement: Dhoni

Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on Wednesday that veteran batsman VVS Laxman could not get in touch with him and inform about his retirement plans ahead of the series against New Zealand.

Speaking on the eve of team's first test match here, Dhoni said, "You think it is a controversy, but people who know me have always complained that I am someone who is quite difficult to get hold of so that is one of the reasons why Laxman could not get hold of me. It is not something that is new. I am trying to improve but I am not really improved."

Commenting on starting the campaign without recently retired veteran cricketers Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, the Indian skipper said that they would surely be missed but it gives the young players an opportunity to cement their place in the test side.

"Well one of the ways to look at it you know is to look ahead in the future. By that what we mean is you know definitely these two were great players and we will definitely miss them on the field. As of now they won't be really available for us. So it is an opportunity for youngsters to step in and take up the responsibility of the longest format. We are hoping some of the youngsters will grab this opportunity and do well," Dhoni said.

He added that it was important for the team to adhere to the basics, as they would be playing the longer format of the game after a break of few months.

"We are expected to win this series so if you talk about starting well you know means winning the series. It means you know looking ahead like something in 15 days time. We are not looking to do that, for us it will be to start the test match on a positive note and by that we mean we have not played test cricket for the last 6-7 months. It is important to turn up on the field and look to do the basics right and the small things right," Dhoni said.

The Black Caps have never won a series in India and their problems have been compounded by the absence of Daniel Vettori, their most capped test cricketer.

The all-rounder has been ruled out by injury and New Zealand will miss the spinner's experience on the low and slow surfaces of India

Paes-Bhupathi Pair Wins MIAMI Title, Becomes World Number One | Tennis 2011

Paes-Bhupathi Pair Wins MIAMI Title, Becomes World Number One | Tennis 2011

The third seed Indian pair defeated the second seed pair of Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor to win the Sony Ericsson Open.

Paes-Bhupathi won 6-7(5), 6-2, 10-5 and became the World Number 1 doubles players ahead of the Bryan brothers.

This is their second title of the year after they had the Chennai Open.

“The key [to us winning] was just fighting as a team. Like Leander said, we didn’t play our best match of the week. All four of us were tentative in the beginning,” said Bhupathi.

“It’s still early for us. The season is broken down into four segments – this is just the first of them. If we’re still No. 1 after the US Open, then we’ll start getting excited,” said Bhupathi.

It was a tough game for the Indian pair as they found the going tough in the first set but bounced back in the second set and took the third set without giving their opponents any chance.

Top 10 Best Batsman in ICC World Cup 2011

Top 10 Best Batsman in ICC World Cup 2011

Top 10 Best Batsman in ICC world cup 2011,Top 10 Highest Run Taker in World cup 2011, there are 14 teams participated and scored best runs and got wickets. Here we have given Top 10 scored batsman's list for you. In this list Sri Lankan player TM Dilshan has scored highest run of 467 and next level is Sachin Tendulkar scored 464.

1. TM Dilshan (SL) Run: 467

2. SR Tendulkar (India) Run: 464

3. IJL Trott (Eng) Run: 422

4. KC Sangakkara (SL) Run: 417

5. WU Tharanga (SL) Run: 393

6. V Sehwag (India) Run: 380

7. AB de Villiers (SA) Run: 353

8. Yuvraj Singh (India) Run: 341

9. AJ Strauss (Eng) Run: 334

10. BJ Haddin (Aus) Run: 332

ICC World Cup 2011 Final Mumbai | TV Viewership Broke Records, 67.6 million | India vs Sri Lanka

ICC World Cup 2011 Final Mumbai | TV Viewership Broke Records, 67.6 million | India vs Sri Lanka

Television viewership increased four times when India and Sri Lanka clashed in the World Cup grand finale with 67.6 million viewers with cable and satellite connections watching it for more than four hours, rating agency Audience Measurement and Analytics Ltd. (aMap) estimated Sunday.

The match Saturday got ratings of 13.7, which is the highest for any event so far and when the winning moment arrived, the ratings peaked to 21.44.

'Yesterday's (Saturday) viewership broke all records. Every Indian was glued on to TV to see the big win! Sixty-four percent of homes (cable & satellite) were watching the game...The match was on for an average of four hours in every household,' Jiniti Shah, vice president, aMap said in a statement.

'Viewership increased almost four times yesterday. Until the quarterfinals, India's matches had an average rating of 3.7, the quarterfinals saw it increase to 5, the semifinal ratings went up to 11 and yesterday's BIG WIN made it 13.6,' Shah added.

The semifinal between India and Pakistan was watched by 67.3 million people with cable and satellite connections.

In a thrilling match, India defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets to win the World Cup for the second time after 28 years. People across the country came out on streets to celebrate the historic win.

Dhoni shaves his head after World Cup triumph | ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

After Kapil Dev captainship so many captains taken the charges and responsibilities in Indian Cricket Team and met the World Cup.  Indian Team win the World Cup after 20 years  lead by Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captainship.  All the credits are goes to Dhoni. One more important message we had not forget that Australian Team has won the World Cup for past three times.  Indian team has met with them in Quarter final and send out from World Cup in 2011 and also break their continuous victory.  All credits are goes to MS Dhoni.

Below we have shows some different look of Indian Cricket Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni….LOOK and ENJOY….

A day after India's historic World Cup triumph, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on Sunday spotted with a new look, with his head clean shaven.

Dhoni was seen with a completely new look during an official photo-op session in front of the iconic Gateway of India, where some members of the Indian cricket team posed for shutterbugs with World Cup Trophy.

Speculation doing the rounds is that he kept his mannat to shave his head if India wins the World Cup.

Incidentally, Dhoni had cut his long locks after India won the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007.

Here some of sweet stills are shown:

Image: India's captain Dhoni lifts the trophy at the Taj Hotel the day after India defeated Sri Lanka in the World Cup final in Mumbai

Photographs: Reuters

SRILANKA vs INDIA TOP 10 STILLS | ICC WORLD CUP 2011 FINAL AT MUMBAI

After 28 year Indian team won the World Cup.  All Indian in the world are enjoyed and celebrated this occasion.  This day April 2nd 2011 of the Victory.  The coincident are the 1983 World cup won date also April 2nd.

Team Captain MS Dhoni announced as Man of the Match.  Yuvaraj Singh got the Man of the Tournament.

Here we show some interesting pictures for enjoyment

Top 10 List of honours for Sachin Tendulkar

List of honours for Sachin Tendulkar

The expectations were huge. Just the way they are each time Sachin Tendulkar walks out to the middle. The nation was immersed in a debate on the issue of Bharat Ratna. Well, this isn't the first time the Indian cricket icon has been linked with a huge honour. He has won some of the best awards an Indian sportsperson can ever think of. Take a look at some of his very best awards

ICC Cricketer of the Year 2010

 

Group Captain IAF 2010

Padma Vibhusan 2007 Padma Vibhusan 2007 2003 WC Player of the Tournament

Maharashtra Bhushan Award in 2001 Padma Shri 1999

Khel Ratna 1998 Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1997

Arjuna Award 1994

CRICKET Photo gallery

 

Memorable World Cup knocks

Captains of the 2011 World Cup

Indian squad for the World Cup

First day of IPL auction