Bowling is an area of concern compared to batting: Dhoni

Underlining his bowling concerns, India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni today said they need to bowl well at the death and hoped that batsmen would give the bowlers more than the par score on board.

India will begin their ICC World T20 campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan here tomorrow.

"Bowling is an area of concern compared to batting. Getting off to a good start is important as it will help us get 10 to 15 runs more than the par-score.

Our aim will be to do well in death bowling and also bat well and we will have a good chance (in the tournament)," Dhoni said on the eve of the opening group league match tomorrow.

He said the likes Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar have not played a lot of T20 Internationals but the IPL experience will certainly come in handy for them.

"Agreed they haven't played a lot of T20 International cricket but the experience in IPL will help them a lot. We would want the bowlers to get one or two wickets with the new ball, their job will be much easier," Dhoni said.

While he was happy about Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina’s performance, he was non-committal on sending Ajinkya Rahane up the order.

"Overall, we have achieved a lot during the two practice games. The idea was to give the guys some fair time in the middle. Yuvi and Raina contributed in bowling." About Rahane opening, he said, "That's under consideration. You will have to wait and watch."
The skipper agreed that presence of a few genuine all-rounders in the Pakistan team would help the rivals.

"Playing proper all-rounders always adds to the strength of a side. If you have players who are equally capable with bat and ball, one can play more than five bowlers and still have the same batting strength," the Indian captain opined.

Among the rival bowlers, pacer Umar Gul and wily spinner Saeed Ajmal came in for special praise from the Indian captain.