India-West Indies match: Dhoni praises his bowlers

India's Umesh Yadav drops a catch off West Indies batsman Chris Gayle at the boundary during their Cricket World Cup match in Perth, March 6, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray (AUSTRALIA - Tags: SPORT CRICKET TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

After an eighth World Cup win in a row — a run that stretches back to the last edition and matches India’s previous record in the competition — M.S. Dhoni lavished praise on his group of bowlers who, he felt, had improved in functioning as a unit. “We are not emphasising too much on individual performance, but on partnerships,” he said.

“If you're leaking runs from one end, then it's difficult to get wickets and contain batsmen from the other end. That's something that was happening quite regularly with us outside the subcontinent, but right now, the bowlers are hunting in packs. One good over is followed by another good over. That actually increases the pressure, and finally you get a wicket.”

Not an easy wicket

The pitch had been hard to bat on, particularly in the first 10 overs of the West Indies innings, Dhoni felt. But he was happy that the lower order had been tested during the run chase.

“It’s not easy to chase this kind of a score on a wicket where it’s slightly double paced,” he said.

“The lower order was tested in this game. Hopefully in the coming two games they’ll get a bit more batting and will be ready for the knockout stages. We need have to more contribution from the lower order batsmen.”

Dhoni would not get carried away with India's entry into the quarterfinals. “All the teams are nicely matched. They have the right combination and all of them have clicked to a large extent. So I feel it’s a really balanced World Cup,” he said.

That India dropped at least four catches — Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja and Rohit Sharma the culprits — was not without reason, Dhoni explained.

Wind factor

“It was slightly tough because of the wind factor. When even your best fielders drop catches there must be something really that must be bothering them.

“Most of them said it was the wind because of the way the ball was moving around a bit. Also they were finding it slightly difficult to keep their eyes open,” he said.

“But if somebody like Chris Gayle or Andre Russell had gone on, all of a sudden the scoreboard would've started to grow. If they had scored 230 or 240 runs, the situation would have been very different.”