We erred in reading the pitch: Dhoni

We erred in reading the pitch: Dhoni
Jun 29, 2009 IANS

Kingston, June 29 (IANS) Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said that Indian batsmen erred in reading the pitch and that resulted in their poor batting display in the second ODI against the West Indies here Sunday.

Dhoni (95) and Rudra Pratap Singh (23) added 101 runs for the ninth wicket to help India get to 188 after they were reduced to 82 for eight in the 22nd over.

"We should have paid a little more respect to the bowlers. The wicket was a bit difficult, it was swinging around a bit. We didn't judge the wicket well and just went around playing our strokes which really brought our downfall," Dhoni said.

Dhoni and Rudra Pratap's partnership was the fifth century-run stand for the ninth wicket in ODIs and it saved India from the ignominy of getting bowled out for less than 100 runs. West Indies openers Runako Morton (85) and skipper Chris Gayle (64) then blazed off to a 101-run opening wicket stand as they attained the target in 34.1 overs with eight wickets in hand.

"Once you lose too many wickets then the only thing that you are doing is catching up. Rudra Pratap and me had a partnership, otherwise it would have been quite embarrassing," Dhoni said.

Dhoni blamed the top-order for India's failure to put up a challenging total.

"When you are batting first, initially you expect the wicket to do a bit and it is the first half an hour and after that you can capitalise if you get a good start," he said. "Later on, the wicket became better for batting."

Dhoni also defended Yuvraj Singh, who scored a match winning century in the first game, saying the left-handed batsman was not going to win them every match.

"Yuvraj is the man in form, he is getting the runs for us but we can't expect one individual to score in every game," he said.