JOIN USIndia captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni felt that losing wickets to the second new ball, including a poor umpiring decision, proved to be a decisive factor as the visitors lost by 40 runs against New Zealand in the first Test here on Sunday.
India lost Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma to the second new ball, on either side of the tea-break that proved costly in the final outcome of the match. Rahane was adjudged leg-before of Trent Boult despite a big inside edge.
“I am having mixed emotions about this Test match. Close to the 85th over, we lost a few wickets at that point and we had a tough decision (Rahane) at the same time which meant we were short of 30-35 runs and that was the crucial phase,” Dhoni said at the post-match press conference.
Dhoni lamented that throughout this tour, there have been occasions when the team has been in good positions but couldn’t convert them into winning ones.
“We have been in good positions this series, in the ODIs also, but we have not been able to capitalise on them. Maybe we are still learning and in the second Test we will capitalise if we get into similar situations.” Asked about Virat Kohli’s dismissal due to a poor stroke having got set, Dhoni defended his deputy.
“We all know the importance of his (Kohli) wicket. It was not only his dismissal, because we also lost wickets after the 80th over as well. The second new ball moved for may be five or six overs. If we would have not given our wickets, we would have got those remaining 40 runs. Also, we had a bad umpiring decision at the same time. So there were quite a few things that did not go our way,” Dhoni came to Kohli’s defence.
Dhoni complimented his bowlers for their stupendous show in the second innings.
“In the first innings, we didn’t bowl well. The second innings was one of the best bowling performances we have had in the last two-three years.”