MS Dhoni is not happy with the way his fast bowlers bowled in the 1st ODI game against South Africa which was played at Johannesburg on Thursday.
India lost that game by a huge margin of 141 runs and went down by 0-1 in the 3-match ODI series. It was not that only the Indian bowlers failed in that match. The Indian batsmen failed miserably too, but, according to Dhoni, it was the bowlers who were the main culprit.
Talking to the reporters in the post match press conference, Dhoni said, “I am more disappointed with the way we bowled upfront. There was certainly some help out there for the fast bowlers and had we bowled in the right areas, we would have got some wickets, but, unfortunately, we couldn’t do that.”
In the recent past, the performance of the Indian bowlers has been way below par. On quite a few occasions, they have given away more than 300 runs and with World Cup just about 14 months away, that’s a real concern for the Indian team management.
Meanwhile, Dhoni made it clear that his thumb is alright and he is going to play in the next ODI. While batting, the Indian captain had been hit on the thumb a couple of times and he had called the physiotherapist on the ground for a bit of assistance. So, there were concerns about his fitness.
When asked about his thumb, Dhoni said, “Its fine. There is nothing to be concerned about. I will be playing in the next match.”
The second match of the series will be played at Kingsmead, Durban on Sunday. That will be a do or die game for India. Another defeat there would end their chances of winning the series.