Preventing a Yuvraj Singh-MS Dhoni partnership was key to our success in Mohali, says victorious ponting
Preventing a Yuvraj Singh-MS Dhoni partnership was key to our success in Mohali, says victorious ponting
What they couldn't achieve in the third one-dayer at the Feroze Shah Kotla in Delhi on Saturday, Ricky Ponting and his men managed here at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium yesterday.
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AAJ NAHI CHALA: India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh. PIC/SURESH KK |
In Delhi they couldn't break the partnership between Yuvraj Singh and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. But yesterday, they did exactly that. And by doing that, they exposed the Indian tail that couldn't really cope with the pressure of chasing a total.
"Had we broken the partnership between Yuvraj and Dhoni, we would have had a realistic chance of winning that match. With two senior pros back in the pavilion I thought we had a chance in Delhi. Because we know these youngsters Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Praveen Kumar have the talent. But when it comes to chasing, you require a lot more than talent. So yeah, today when we got the wickets of Dhoni and Yuvraj I knew we had a good chance of sealing it," Ponting said.
After Sehwag had given India an explosive start, India kept losing wickets at regular intervals after his departure at the total of 40. Virat Kohli scored 10, Sachin Tendulkar scored a patchy 40, while Yuvraj Singh was run out for 12 and Dhoni could score just 26. And once these stalwarts were back in the pavilion, it was always Australia's game.
Ponting however, said that he was a bit disappointed with the score (250) that they eventually put up because it was a good wicket to bat on. "I thought we were 20-30 runs short. But the manner in which our bowlers bowled, and the kind of a fielding display we put in, overall it was a good effort.
Skipper Dhoni admitted that it was a batting failure. "I would say that the batting was a failure. We know our youngsters are talented, but chasing a total down is always difficult. What these youngsters need is time to settle down and pace their innings. But if you are batting at No six, seven or eight, then you can't really do that," Dhoni saidu00a0 after the 24-run defeat.
