#WT20 #INDvsNZ | Batting was a disappointment says Captain #MSDhoni 

India skipper #MSDhoni said that his team had no partnerships while chasing a small total against New Zealand in the opener of the World T20 here on Tuesday night.

Speaking to the media after India suffered a 47-run defeat, Dhoni felt there were too many soft dismissals during India’s chase.

“We needed a partnership to stay in the game. But that did not happen. The bowlers did a decent job in containing the Kiwis to a modest score. But, I think it is the batting which was a bit of a disappointment,” said Dhoni.

“I would definitely feel that the Nagpur pitch was a sporting one. Generally many feel that only seaming wickets are sporting. Maybe they feel that only if the ball hits the head it is a sporting wicket,” he said with a smile.

“It was clearly lack of application by us when chasing. This is what happens when the top order fails; the pressure will be on the lower order in such situations. You need to push for ones and twos to build the innings,” said Dhoni.

“I don’t believe that, of late, we are playing badly against the spinners. If you remember the first few Test matches I played, there were no turners at all. But, yes, it is always a challenge to bat on turning tracks for there is little room for error,” said the Indian captain.

The challenge
Dhoni said that the biggest challenge for him and the team was to stay positive, learn from the mistakes here, come back strongly and show character.

Dhoni did not subscribe to the view that the next game against Pakistan in Kolkata will be a do-or-die battle. “I never said that. But any game will be like that and the important thing is to keep an eye on the margin of victories as we move on,” he said.

Dhoni also disagreed that the Kiwis had read the pitch better if the selection of three spinners in their side were to be an indication. “If you look at that way, Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh) did not bowl at all. But, yes, they bowled well, we must admit,” he said.

“The pitches will be different at different venues and we can’t expect similar wickets,” he said. “We have to adapt quickly,” he added.

New Zealand’s star of the evening, left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, said it was a big morale-booster for his team to begin the campaign with a big win against a strong team like India.

“We knew it was going to be hard to beat India in such a low-scoring match. But, we stuck to our plans and kept getting wickets regularly to stay in the game,” Santner said.