India vs South Africa: MS Dhoni disappointed about 'gamble' not paying off

After losing 1st ODI against South Africa, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said "his job of a finisher is a gamble and he has to take the blame when he fails".

Kanpur: In his defense for not getting the team over the line in the opening ODI, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Sunday said "his job of a finisher is a gamble and he has to take the blame when he fails".

"Yes when you bat down the order you have to take the blame. When you have finished a lot many games, people remember more about the games you have not finished," said Dhoni after he failed to complete the job in the final over of the chase with India needing 11 runs.

Dhoni (31) and Stuart Binny (2) were holed out while attempting the big hits in the 50th over bowled by Kagiso Rabada as India ended at 298 for seven in reply to South Africa's record 303 for five at Green Park here.

Disappointed at not getting the job done, Dhoni said, "It is a gamble (playing the role of a finisher). Sometimes it pays and sometimes it doesn't. But that is my role in the side. I remember one game England and one against Sri Lanka at Rajkot where I couldn't help the team win.

"You have to play the big shots and if the ball is coming on, you can use the pace of the bowlers and get away with it.

But wickets like these, where the average bounce is low, it becomes difficult to hit. Also when you going for big shots, it works either way. Having said that, the shot selection was not great in the final over."

What was going in his mind in the final few overs? "Maaro" (hit) was Dhoni's one word reply.

India were cruising when Rohit Sharma (150) and Ajinkya Rahane (60) were batting before the middle order failed to do the job. Dhoni praised the batting effort before saying "we could have got more runs close between 35- 40 overs". India needed 90 runs off the last 10 overs with seven wickets in hand.

Dhoni said the absence of injured Ravichandran Ashwin in the death overs of South Africa's innings made a huge difference. Ashwin could only bowl 4.4 overs due to a side strain as India leaked 109 runs in the last 10 overs.

"I felt our batting was really good. Rahane batting at three, Virat at four, followed by myself, Raina and Binny. It looks like a settled lineup with a lot of power and experience to chase big totals. That is why I have said that Rahane needs to bat higher up the order. It looks very strong on paper."

Pacers Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Binny were hammered by Ab de Villiers (104) and Dhoni said India's death bowling has to improve.

"As far as bowling is concerned, the six overs of Ashwin I really missed in this game. Things were under control in the middle overs. Raina and Binny conceded fair amount of run,s if not a lot. Then the death overs were simply not good. It is a bit disappointing as reverse swing was on offer. They should have executed their plans better, hitting the deck delivery or yorker could have been used effectively," said Dhoni, adding that it was 260-270 pitch.

Asked where India lost the game, he said, "We lost the match in the last five overs of either innings. It is crucial that who is batting well takes the team till the end. All of a sudden it is difficult to hit from ball one. We were positioned very well. But I felt around 35-40 overs we failed to get a move on. That would have made things easier".

India lost the T20 series 0-2 and now trail the five match ODI series 0-1. Does Dhoni feel the extra pressure?

"I think rather than talking about the rest of the series, I would say individuals need to take up the role and responsibility given to them. Yes we did lose this game.

"If you see the amount of setbacks in the game, one of your prime spinners (Ashwin), you lose him at a crucial time time. When you lose your prime spinner, it is not easy to comeback. It was 260-270 wicket. It was a really close game and could have gone either way. With Ashwin around, we could have restricted them to 270-280 if not less."

On Ashwin's fitness, Dhoni said the team management is still assessing his case. He also praised Rohit and Rahane for their 149-run stand.

"The way they batted, it looked the pitch was easy to bat on. But it could be just because of the fact that the way they batted. They made it look easy on a two paced wicket."

On his counterpart De Villiers' Man of the Match effort, he said, "It is tough to bowl to AB. He plays all around wicket. It is important to execute your plans against him".

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