We need bowling all-rounders: Dhoni
JOHANNESBURG: After crashing out of the Champions Trophy, India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni conceded his team made 'quite a few mistakes" in the tournament and stressed on the need of having bowling all-rounders to get a better balance in the side.
Despite registering a win against West Indies on Wednesday, India were knocked out of the Champions Trophy after Australia beat Pakistan in another Group A league match earlier in the day.
"We made quite a few mistakes. In the first match, we gave width but that's a problem which can be solved. We were not good in fielding either. There were a few run-outs as well," Dhoni said.
"I have often said if guys can improve by 15 to 20 per cent, it would help in bowling and fielding. Similar is with run-outs: if your fielding improves, it helps you in running between the wickets.
"But we also need our bowlers to bat better. If you look at the Australians, they have Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson who can bat well. It helps their side. If we can have a bowler who can bowl seam up and bat, it would help us to play, perhaps two spinners and five bowlers," he said.
Dhoni wasn't also inclined to rate the Champions Trophy fiasco worse than the one his team suffered in the Twenty20 World Cup in England in June.
"It's difficult to say which was worse but I feel here, we won one and lost one while a game was rained off. In England it felt worse because we got enough games and our performance was not good enough," said Dhoni.
India was handicapped by the absence of Sachin Tendulkar who suffered from food-poisoning before the game against the West Indies.
"I came to know about it at 10-11 am. He was still feeling weak. In fact, it happened to five or six of our players," said Dhoni.
Dhoni said his side was keeping a close eye on the match between Pakistan and Australia being played out at the Centurion earlier in the day.
"Of course we wanted Pakistan to win. That was our best chance of qualifying. The climax was good and quite a few of us kept following it on television at the break, unfortunately, the openers had to go in (and thus missed the closing minutes of play).
"That game was more important to us, especially since we had got the West Indies out for 129 runs," he said.
Dhoni brought himself to bowl in the 17th over and he promptly got a wicket for himself with his fourth delivery in One-Day Internationals.
"I thought if the (West Indies) innings lasted till the 50th over, we would need part-timers to bowl three or four overs," he said.
"Knowing these conditions, I thought it was best if I could try myself for 3 or 4 overs," Dhoni said.
Man of the match Virat Kohli believed his performance in Emerging Players Tournament in Australia helped him a great deal in preparing for such pitches.
He also was reconciled that with such stars in the side, he could only get in if somebody got injured.
As for any extended run to a youngster in the side, Dhoni said it was up to a youngster to create his own space within the team.
"If you see the line-up, it's not easy to get in. A youngster has to perform and create his own space. If he can create his own space, you don't have to think twice before including him in the side."
