LEEDS, ENGLAND // India captain MS Dhoni said his side’s pacemen would need to hone their skills bowling in the “slog overs” if the world champions were to defend their title in Australia and New Zealand early next year.
Dhoni’s men were beaten by 41 runs by England in the final one-day international of the five-match series at Headingley on Friday but still took the series 3-1 after a trio of crushing wins.
India repeatedly exploited England’s long-standing weakness against spin bowling and might well have done so again on Friday but for Joe Root’s 113 on his Yorkshire home ground.
The likes of pacemen Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami were able to take early wickets and then let the spinners take over for much of the series. It was a tactic that worked well until Friday, when England made use of the batting power play by scoring 55 runs for no wickets.
Pitches and overhead conditions are likely to be very different in Australia and New Zealand when the World Cup starts in February, although India will have had the benefit of an acclimatising tri-series in Australia, which will also feature England.
“I think slog bowling is something which I would like to improve as a team because the conditions in Australia and New Zealand will be very different,” Dhoni said.
“In New Zealand, there are not many games [for India] but the grounds are not very big.
“So we cannot use spinners too much after the 40th over. To some extent it will put extra pressure on the fast bowlers to stand up and take more responsibility.
“It’s really important for them to use the coming games well but at the same time, the next five [ODIs at home] against the West Indies, we will get a fair amount of dew so they might find it tough to execute their yorkers or may not find their reverse swing – it won’t be exactly what we may face later in Australia and New Zealand.”
But having seen Shami take two for 52 in 10 overs at Headingley, Dhoni indicated he had the discipline he was seeking. “His execution was great, which I feel is lacking in some of our other fast bowlers,” he said.
“But definitely he bowled really well with his yorkers. Whenever I needed him or asked him he really bowled well.”
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