Bangalore, Feb 28 (IANS) A highly relieved Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni late Sunday admitted that India was lucky to have avoided a certain defeat against England in the World Cup but said a better fielding side could have won the game.
The Group B league match ended in a dramatic tie, with both teams scoring 338 runs to share one point each.
‘In these games, we realise the importance of one run. If it would have been a different side, the fielding would have been slightly better. But we need to realise our strength and we hope fielding is not a big part of it,’ Dhoni pointed out.
Indian fielding in one-dayers continues to be a matter of concern for the team.
‘It’s a mixed feeling. We were very close to getting defeated in this game and very close to winning it though England was well placed till the slog overs. We are disappointed that we couldn’t win as we should have after scoring 340-odd runs,’ Dhoni told reporters in the post-match press conference.
Noting that there were occasions when India had won or lost such games by one run in the past, a tired-looking Dhoni said a tie was part and parcel of cricket and it does happen when the opposition team had at times played brilliant.
‘These things (tie) do happen some times in one-day matches. We should take it in stride and not be greedy about it. I am neither disappointed nor excited with the draw,’ he said.
Lauding England for fighting back and chasing the Indian target, Dhoni said as far as this match was concerned, the opponents batted really well, bowled definitely well according to the field and executed their plans well, which were important.
‘The Indian team would be thinking you scored 340-odd runs and have not won the game and the English team would be thinking that you get off to such a good start but not able to finish the game. I think both the teams will be a bit disappointed yet bit relieved to take one point each out of it as both teams were staring in defeat at one point of time,’ he said.
— Indo-Asian News Service
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