Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday questioned the third
umpire's controversial decision to rule Rahul Dravid out even though
television replays did not show any edge off the bat during his side's first ODI against England.
 "I still don't know how exactly he was given out. Whether it was off snickometer; whether snicko is allowed to be used; whether it was an audio technician or a third umpire who gave him out. There are any number of fair questions to be asked; why should not the benefit of doubt go to a batsman?" Dhoni asked. © AFP |
"There are quite a few things (about that dismissal). There was no
mark on the Hot Spot, no visual deflection and the umpire had given not
out. The benefit of doubt in such cases go to the batsman," Dhoni said
at the post-match press conference after the match was abandoned due to
heavy rain.
"I still don't know how exactly he was given out. Whether it was off
snickometer; whether snicko is allowed to be used; whether it was an
audio technician or a third umpire who gave him out. There are any
number of fair questions to be asked; why should not the benefit of
doubt go to a batsman?" Dhoni asked.
Dhoni was worried at the ever-growing list of injured players in the
Indian camp after Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma joined the casualty
list list on Saturday.
"We could do with 15 more players, initially I said what could have
gone wrong did go wrong. But it has only increased since then," stated
Dhoni.
While Tendulkar has an inflamed right toe, Rohit got his right index finger fractured during the Indian innings.
"Coming from India and performing here straightaway can be difficult.
We are fighting with whatever resources we've got. May be increasing
the strength of the team can be the key. We could look at travelling
with 18 players if needed," he said.
Dhoni confirmed that the team would be asking for Rohit's replacement
straightaway as the right-handed batsman is definitely out for the rest
of the series.
"Rohit would be visiting a specialist and it's almost certain he
would not play any further in this series. Tendulkar will also see a
specialist. It's an old injury which has flared up. He had practice with
us last evening but this morning it flared up," Dhoni informed.
He said India would have won the match had England got only to 20
overs to play and with 164 to win. England were 27 for two in 7.2 overs
when rain interrupted and match abandoned later.
"A lot has happened in this series. This alone (abandonment) was
left. It could have been difficult for them to get close to 130 runs in
12 overs. It was a difficult target to achieve as we had bowled well in
the first seven overs," he said.
The Indian captain was all praise for his top order batsmen for posting 274 for seven in their allotted 50 overs.
"They (the openers) batted well. What was important was to see off
new ball. It initially swings at this time of the year. What we wanted
was stable partnership. They were careful initial but then nicely built
up their innings. After Rahane was out, Parthiv made sure he had some
partnership so that lower order batsmen could come and score runs.
"It was important knock for them. If you think, these players will be
playing in next 3-4 years time. They did it against a good bowling
attack and when the most experienced players in your side were missing.
It's a big learning experience for them and it would help them in
future."
Dhoni, however, said that his side did not quite capitalize on the fine start of the top order.
"We were a few runs short because we lost Rohit. We wanted to cash in
on the slog overs, get as many runs as possible without taking too many
risks."
0 comments:
Post a Comment