India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said a major challenge for the batsmen in the seaming, swinging conditions in Dambulla was to bring about a change in their mindset.
Dhoni said on Tuesday, “In one-day cricket you are so used to going after the bowlers right from the first delivery. It's not only in the sub-continent. Throughout the world, you see that the wickets are a lot flatter now, especially for the one-dayers.”
He added, “You give respect to the bowlers for the first 10 overs and the next 40 are for you. At this venue, you have to prolong the respect for bowlers by another 10 overs. If you don't lose too many wickets for 20 overs, then you can really dictate terms.”
The Indian skipper said the pitch here would continue to favour the pacemen. “Initially, there will be a bit of help for the pacemen. During the day, they can swing the ball with the breeze. Under the lights, it always swings here.”
The fifth bowler
Queried about Ravindra Jadeja's performance in the competition, he said, “He has had quite a few bad games in between but overall he has bowled really well for us in a majority of the games over the last 18 months.
“His batting form has dipped but if he can contribute with the bat, we can play with five bowlers. He is literally our fifth bowler. He has done well for India unless you can find an all-rounder who can bowl 10 overs for us.”
On the out-of-form Rohit Sharma, he said, “He is always in and out of the side. There is pressure on him, especially these wickets. He was unfortunate once when he did not get the umpire's decision in his favour.
“So I don't really think you can decide whether a player is good or not in two innings. He is working hard. His fitness has improved. We are just hoping he scores some big runs.”
Dhoni said playing an off-spinner depended on the opposition, the number of left-handers it had. On fielding an additional batsman, he felt the side might end up conceding too many runs in these conditions. He disagreed with the view in some quarters that India was a ‘soft' side.
A long gap
Interestingly, New Zealand captain Ross Taylor said, “It has actually been nearly 12 days since we batted in the middle. We did not get to bat in our second game against Sri Lanka.” The Kiwis have not batted since their second match here on August 13.
Taylor said India was still a dangerous side. “They (the Indians) did not play that well against us in the first game, and then they came back and played well against Sri Lanka.
“Obviously they didn't play as well as they would have liked to play against Sri Lanka in the last match but they are still a threat.”
He said the top-order of all the teams had struggled in these conditions. “The opposition takes two or three quick wickets and there is pressure on you. With more experience, the younger batsmen will respond better.”
Asked about the murky weather here, Taylor replied, “We will have to wait and see. It rained at our hotel recently.”
He said the ball has swung around in these conditions but added, “If you look at most of the dismissals, swing has been a factor but it is mostly seam that has got most of the batsmen out.”
