Dhoni and Uthappa

Durban: Mahendra Singh Dhoni might have led India to a famous win through a ‘bowlout’ against arch-rivals Pakistan in the ICC World Twenty20, but the dashing wicket-keeper would not like to see matches ending in such a fashion.

A beaming Dhoni was all praise for his side after snatching a thrilling 3-0 win via ‘bowlout’ in their inaugural match that first ended in a tie.

It was only the second instance when a match has been decided in ‘bowlout’, which requires five players from each side aiming the stumps and the number of hits decides the winner.

“It really amuses you. Winning a cricket match 3-0! It doesn’t happen every time,” said Dhoni, who was leading India for the first time. “But it is in the record books now; I can tell my friends, when I was captain my team won 3-0,” he added, sparking off a huge laughter.

“But I don’t want to see a cricket match decided on a bowlout. The team plays so hard to get a result and it should always be decided on the field.”

Dhoni showed some smart cricketing brain in preferring three slow bowlers in Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa for the ‘bowlout’ and they all hit the stumps.

Asked about his bowlers’ amazing strike-rate in the ‘bowlout’, Dhoni traced down their effort to some vigorous practice in the last 48 hours.

“Whatever they (the bowlers) did, they were picked for that. They had practised a lot for such an eventuality. Actually, Rohit Sharma is the best when it comes to bowlout, he has a cent percent record — but since he was not playing we had to rely on the other specialists,” Dhoni said.

Asked what he told Sreesanth before he ran in to bowl the last ball of the match, he said: “I told him to be free, and control his mind. He’s like a computer, he just has to bowl one ball but he might be thinking of bowling 100 different deliveries.”

Dhoni appreciated the intensity his team showed in the big game and was also delighted to maintain India’s splendid record of not losing to Pakistan in a World Cup game.

“It’s a very pleasant feeling,” he said.

“We might have to play them again in this tournament but, if we do, we would like to keep that record going.

“I never take pressure whether it’s India-Pakistan or any other game. As for my players they responded well. They were determined. They were focused. The intensity was good.”

Dhoni admitted that, despite the batting not measuring up to the expectations, the bowlers turned it around for his team.

“We didn’t start well. The wicket was doing a bit. It had some bounce and they had (Mohammed) Asif, (Umar) Gul, and (Yaseer) Arafat who did a good job. We needed to take some time to get used to wicket.

“We didn’t have a big score to defend. So we needed a good start with the ball and the bowlers responded, getting wickets at regular intervals. In the end, they managed to push the run-rate up 12-per over and that is not easy.

“The way everyone fielded and bowled, it was a terrific game of cricket,” he said.

Dhoni was not willing to dwell too much into his batting or bowling order.

“More than the batting order or the bowling order, it’s important to understand the responsibility (given to a player). A player should know what the captain expects of him in a particular situation and in a particular position.”

The Indian captain also made a special mention of Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh, both of whom were making their comebacks.

“It was very pleasing to see Irfan bowl the way he did. The way he responded when he was given the ball. It was moving a bit and he knew where to bowl. The way he bowled his four overs was amazing. And he also contributed with the bat.

“Harbhajan is my trump card. He’s ready to bowl whenever you want him to bowl. It’s very hard to control (Shahid) Afridi and Misbah-ul Haq. They are very good against spinners and did a great job under pressure.”