Monday, February 28, 2011

We can't improve our fielding much - Dhoni

We can't improve our fielding much - Dhoni


India captain, MS Dhoni, has admitted his team fielded poorly against England, but said there were limits to how much it could improve its fielding. Instead, he said, the team needed to focus on its strengths.

"Maybe if we would have fielded slighted better, we would have won the game by one run because you realise in these games the importance of one run," Dhoni said. "I don't think we can improve the fielding very much because we have got quite a few slow fielders in the side.

"So I think if we were a different fielding side it would have been slightly better, but then you need to realise your strengths and definitely fielding is not a big part of it."

Apart from a dropped chance off Andrew Strauss early in his innings and one off Ian Bell at slip, India conceded quite a few runs by way of misfields.

The hosts amassed 338 on the backs of another Sachin Tendulkar century on Sunday in Bangalore, but Strauss made a century of his own and the match ended in a dramatic tie after some lusty lower-order hitting from England. During England's innings, Dhoni was seen discussing fielding and bowling changes on a number of occasions with Virender Sehwag.


Munaf Patel took a clever return catch to dismiss Kevin Pietersen, World Cup, Group B, Bangalore, February 27, 2011
Munaf Patel took a clever return catch to dismiss Kevin Pietersen, rare bright moment for India in the field © AFP
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"If you are not 100% sure of something, you have got experienced players in the side whom you can always approach because at the end of the day the motivation is to take the best decision at the right time. That's what I was interacting with him since he was close to me."

Dhoni said he likes to let his bowlers choose their own field and it is only when things don't go to plan that he steps in. "I always give the liberty to the bowlers to set the field," he said. "If the fast bowler wants a particular field, even if i am not very happy with it, I believe in the skill of the fast bowlers, and give him the first preference to pick his own field. If it is not successful, then I implement my own field."

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