Despite suffering a five-wicket loss to Pakistan in the World T20 warm-up match today, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was not complaining, and said that his side got the chance to test which combination would be the right one for the tournament proper, starting tomorrow.
"It was a good test for the main tournament and it was a good game. We could test which combination would be the best for the tournament," Dhoni said after his side lost the practice match at the R Premadasa Stadium.
"We bowled well in the last few overs though I felt we gave too many runs with the new ball by our fast bowlers. But apart from that it was a good game for all of us," he added.
India had beaten Sri Lanka in an earlier warm-up match after the two practice games, and Dhoni indicated that his side would stick to the seven-batsmen-four-bowler combination in the tournament.
"It's a difficult choice whether to pick an extra bowler (fifth bowler) and drop a batsman. I have batsmen who can be used as part-timers and we are a side that is comfortable playing seven batsmen," said Dhoni.
Dhoni was happy with the form of Rohit Sharma who has done well in the two warm-up matches. "Rohit has been doing well. Lots of people think that T20 is very short game but I feel that at times you can use up some balls to settle down. Rohit did just that, he took some time to settle down and later went after the bowlers.
"He (Rohit) is a talented player. It's good for the team as he can also bowl a bit with his off-spin," he said. Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez said that today's win would give his side a morale booster for the main tournament.
"The way the boys approached the chase was very positive. We knew if India could post that total, we could get it if we worked hard. Kamran Akmal was exceptional," said Hafeez.
"We won the series against Australia in the UAE before coming here. Now we have beaten India in practice match, this will give us the momentum and boost in the tournament proper," he said.
Hafeez also praised Shoaib Malik for his performance and supporting Akmal in the chase. "That is what experience is all about. The experience of Malik was also the key. He supported Kamran really well. The bowlers tried hard, but things didn't work out for them today."
