M.S. Dhoni was beaten but not broken. India’s World Cup came to a bitter end in the semifinals at the SCG on Thursday, but to the captain, it had still been a journey to take pride in.
“I felt everybody rose to the occasion — how the fast bowlers bowled throughout this tournament, how the spinners have done, learning from all their past experiences when we failed outside,” he said.
“The Test series didn’t go our way, the triangular series didn’t go our way. It was important to have a good dressing-room atmosphere, and all the members, including the support staff, they were just brilliant. I’m disappointed we couldn’t go into the finals, but only one team can win, and I felt they played better cricket on the day.”
India had never chased down a target of over 270 against Australia in this country, and it didn’t look like breaking that record on Thursday.
Dhoni admitted that his fast bowlers could have done better but said he felt the 328 Australia had scored was within reach.
“I knew the wicket would get slightly better in the second half,” he said. “When we lost the toss, I was a bit worried that the spinners wouldn’t get as much purchase, but both Jadeja and Ashwin bowled well.
“We got a bit of reverse swing going, so I felt our fast bowlers could have bowled slightly better because I knew in the second half there wouldn’t be much of reverse swing. But once we came back into the game and restricted them to 328, I felt it was a good score.
“Yes, there was pressure, but at the same time it needed some good batting and good partnerships, so it was an achievable score.”
Dhoni refused to criticise Virat Kohli, who was dismissed for a tortured one trying to pull Mitchell Johnson. “He went out there, he played a shot and it didn't pay off,” he said. “It happens, and it happens to a lot of batsmen. Once the opposition puts over 300 runs on the board and has quality bowlers, you have to take risks at some point. If it clicks, all of a sudden everything changes. He played a shot, it didn’t pay off, so that’s it.”
Dhoni denied he had left his big hitting too late. “If you start too early and if you lose a wicket, there’s nothing really left in the game. So you have to take that risk at the right time. If mine and Ajinkya’s partnership hadn’t come at that time, we would have packed up for 140 or 150 runs,” he said.
Dhoni was phlegmatic about surrendering the World Cup he had won as captain four years ago. “It’s something that doesn't really belong to anyone. We definitely took it from someone, and somebody took it from us. It’s as simple as that,” he said.
India will now travel home having spent nearly four months in Australasia.
“Twenty days more, and we could have applied for citizenship,” he joked.
