Queried whether the five-ball over - sent down by Lasith Malinga in the
30th over of the innings - would have made a difference to the result of
the game, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said, "It's done and
dusted, that is what is important. We can create a big fuss out of it
but what is the point. Nothing can be done now?"
Dhoni added, "We have seen in the past, when we have bowled an over and
almost changed sides (ends), the third umpire intervenes and says `okay,
you have to bowl one more ball in this particular over'. It didn't
happen in this game."
The Indian captain also took the opportunity to comment on DRS. "If it
can happen, then I don't know why people back the DRS so much. We have
seen people really being happy with DRS in one series when it goes in
their favour. If it doesn't go in their favour, they're unhappy about
it."
Dhoni said, "I'm quite happy with three individuals ... two umpires in
the middle and a third umpire. Then you have the match referee and the
scorer. If such a mistake still happens, it's better off accepting it
because as humans they are bound to make mistakes."
Tuesday's Man of the Match also said, "Hopefully it won't be repeated with us or any other side."
Asked about Gautam Gambhir's remarks that the Indians should have
finished the game against Australia on Sunday earlier and Dhoni,
perhaps, was waiting for someone else to take responsibility, the Indian
captain replied, "I am not in a hurry to finish the game in the 47th or
48th over. I am happy if I can do it in the 50th. I don’t have the
luxury of batsmen behind me."
Dhoni elaborated, "It’s different with individuals. Some like to finish
early, take risk and finish things off. It’s difficult to play huge
shots on big grounds. When you go for it, it really has to pay off.
Otherwise it looks as if this shot wasn’t needed at that stage.
If you ask Viru (Virender Sehwag), he would look to finish things in 35
overs. He believes the ball is there to be hit. So it’s a difference in
perspective. There is nothing wrong between me and Gambhir.”
He was all praise for Gambhir's 91 here. "Once he gets going, he really
comes up with the big scores. He plays the spinners very well and runs
well between the wickets. He bats for 35-40 overs."
Dhoni said it was important for a finisher to keep his mind blank in the
final stages. "You need to keep the mind blank and back yourself to
hit. For instance, Malinga can bowl yorkers at will."
Queried whether the Indians would now rest Gambhir after his innings of
92 and 91 in successive games, Dhoni said, "One of the things we want is
all players to be fit by the time we play the finals, if we make it.
The grounds here in Australia are big and there is no guarantee that
everyone will be fit if they play all the games. Sachin, Sehwag and even
Gautam, are over 30 and we thought it would be a good idea to give the
youngsters a chance. It would also have them ready for the later duels
in case someone gets injured."
Dhoni said the tie was a fair result - "both the teams did not deserve
to lose" - and added the Adelaide pitch was sub-continental in nature.
Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene said, "230 odd was not going to be
enough here. Then, we dropped catches and missed run-out chances."
Jayawardene also gave credit to Dhoni, "When he is batting through to the end, it becomes difficult for the opposition."
He added, "We fought and one has to back Malinga to do the job. But we are happy with two points. We could have lost the match."
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