A frustrated Dhoni said
batsmen had forgotten they needed to change their approach when wickets start
to tumble.
India lost to South Africa by
three wickets Saturday in a Group B game as it failed to put up a match-winning
score despite being on course for a huge total at one stage.
India suffered a similar
collapse in the tied game against England and also made heavy weather of
chasing modest targets against Ireland and the Netherlands.
“When you try to hit those
big shots, you tend to forget that you are playing for the country and not for
the crowd,” Dhoni said after a frustrating loss. “We lost too many wickets in
the powerplay and could not even play the full 50 overs.” India was 267-1 at
one stage but lost the remaining wickets in only nine overs to fold up in 48.4
overs.
The batting display rang
alarm bells since the team had similarly lost its last seven wickets for 33
runs and was all out for 338 in 49.5 overs against England.
India's batting, boasting the
likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni among
others, was said to be the best lineup in subcontinental conditions.
The powerful batting was even
expected to make up for its unimpressive bowling and slack fielding as India
hoped to win back the World Cup after 28 years.
But that has not been seen so
far in the tournament. India is presently placed at seven points from five
games, with only a game against the West Indies to go.
The batting started well in
the tournament, scoring 370-4 against Bangladesh at Dhaka in the tournament
opener, but has failed to live up to expectations in subsequent matches.
The batsmen gave away their
wickets even against Ireland and the Netherlands, as the team registered
unimpressive five-wicket wins against them.
Dhoni tried out batsmen at
different positions, including pushing number seven batsman Yusuf Pathan to
number four, but the moves have generally not paid off.
“About the batting
order....well it's a tricky question.
If it's successful it's
smart. But if you change the batting order and lose two or three wickets, you
need to curb your instincts,” Dhoni said.
Dhoni, who plays for the
second-rung team of Jharkhand in domestic games, said he had been reminded of
similar situations in the past.
“People often say that
cricket is a cruel game. One of our coaches also used to say this in Jharkhand
and this is not the first time I've experienced this. But it's not
disappointing. It's a big learning curve and happens with all the sides,” Dhoni
said.
