Kapil Dev lauds MS Dhoni's mature captaincy

Adelaide: Crediting India's emphatic win over arch-rivals Pakistan in the World Cup to Mahendra Singh Dhoni's mature captaincy, cricket legend Kapil Dev today said the Indian skipper used his experience really well and was spot on with field placements.

"This Pakistan team lacks maturity but we seem to have that going for us. Especially, the captain today. Dhoni played his role of skipper really well," Kapil, who is part of the Hindi commentary team on Star Sports, told PTI from Mumbai.

"His field placements for attacking bowlers like (Mohammed) Shami and (Ravichandran) Ashwin were spot on. He seems to use his experience really well and it worked brilliant for India today," he added.

If Virat Kohli's 107-run knock propelled India to 300 for seven then Shikhar Dhawan (73) and Suresh Raina (74) also played their parts.

If Kapil, who led India to their first World Cup triumph in 1983, was impressed with Kohli and the team effort then the former all-rounder had a special word of praise for the two left-handers.

"India outplayed Pakistan in all departments today. Their great batting display was followed by a tight team bowling performance. Virat, from whom we now expect big innings everytime he goes to bat, played well," said Kapil.

"But the big factor of today's win was distinct innings by the two southpaws, Suresh Raina and Shikhar Dhawan. It was a complete team effort and the happiness on every Indian player face's just show what India Pakistan means to them."

India were looking set to go beyond a 320 plus score with Kohli and Dhawan stitching a 129-run second-wicket partnership. But Kohli's departure in the 46th over checked the Indian surge as Pakistan speedster Sohail Khan picked up five wickets.

Kapil said that had it not been for Kohli's wicket India would have got to 350.

"Virat Kohli was the reason for India's score reaching 300 but he was also the reason for the teams score not to reach 350. His was a crucial wicket," said Kapil. 

Though the Misbah-ul-Haq-led side started off well with Ahmed Shehzad (47) and Misbah (76) making good work of the chase, but Pakistan faltered to 224 all out in 47 overs. Kapil said that the 6-0 World Cup scoreline in favour of India was a result of Pakistan's inability to handle pressure in the 50-over showpiece event.

"Maybe it's become too big for them psychologically. But this is not the best Pakistan team we have faced in past World Cups. India had big names like Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar in the past but they also had Shoaib Akhtar, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis," he said.

Earlier in the day, India woke to the country's biggest voice, Amitabh bachchan as he joined Kapil and the other experts on Stars Sports Hindi panel.