Batting Powerplays continue to confuse the skippers

The batting Powerplays have become a headache for most teams and no one is more eager to solve the puzzle than India captain MS Dhoni. The Indians were at the receiving end twice — losing too many wickets trying to score maximum runs from the five overs. Against South Africa last week, Dhoni promoted Yusuf Pathan to bat the opposition out of the game when India were 267 for 1 after 40 overs. But the plan backfired and they lost nine wickets for 29 runs.

It's not just Dhoni who is trying to find the right way to utilise the Powerplay. Even New Zealand stand-in skipper Ross Taylor is unsure when to take the Powerplay, despite his team having the best track record in scoring maximum runs in the five overs.

"When is the best time to use the Powerplay, I don't think any team has mastered it but at the same time I don't think any team has been particularly poor at it either," said Taylor, who took the Powerplay against Canada soon after Brendon McCullum reached his century. "It is logical to take the Powerplay when you have two set batsmen at the crease."

McCullum perished soon after but the team still managed to score 74 runs from the five overs with Taylor scoring 45.

However, the big-hitting New Zealander insisted that teams would have to be more innovative with Powerplays in the knockout stages to be effective.

"Powerplay is just not all about scoring a lot of runs. Quite often it's getting their best bowler back and using them up for the Powerplay and then catching up with what you might not have got in the Powerplay later on — maybe against lesser bowlers."

Perhaps Dhoni is also thinking on the same lines.

Dhoni looks for improvement in batting

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni says there are areas that India needs to work on, following his side's five-wicket win over the Netherlands in a Group B match of the cricket World Cup in Delhi on Wednesday.

"Quite a few of the objectives have been achieved, but there are areas we need to improve. The powerplay overs, the lower order shouldn't have come in to finish this [Netherlands match] off. And fielding, we have been consistent," Dhoni said after India chased down the Netherlands' target of 190 in 36.3 overs to register their third win of the tournament.

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He reasoned that Ashish Nehra was replaced with Yusuf Pathan only after one over with the new ball owing to lack of assistance for fast bowlers on the Feroz Shah Kotla wicket.

"There was nothing really for fast bowlers with the new ball. The batsmen were just hitting through the infield. It's always better to use the spinners up front and use the fast bowlers later with the old ball."

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Despite chasing a modest total, India, for the second successive time, faced some worrying moments before Yuvraj Singh led the way with an unbeaten fifty.

"Yuvraj batted brilliantly again," Dhoni said.

India's batting line-up is one of the most formidable in the tournament and Dhoni is pleased to have such an array of stroke-makers in the side.

"They are the pick of our batting. We rely on good starts," he said when asked about Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag.

"We have got 2-3 batsmen who can attack the opposition, and also have 2-3 batsmen who can attack as well as defend, play according to the situation. It's a good mix," Dhoni said.

About the chase, he said "It's always challenging to chase a modest target against good opposition."

Dhoni denies to criticize police,but sorry for observers

Indian captain MS Dhoni today sympathised with the cricket fans who were lathi-charged in Nagpur during a mad rush for tickets for the high-profile India-South Africa World Cup clash but refused to blame the police for the incident. "It is difficult to react when you are not at the exact place where the incident happens. But I think police must not be happy to do that. They must have taken the action when they felt it was needed," said Dhoni.

"Police must have done that to avoid a stampede-like or a very bad situation. It is not ideal to always project the police as bad. But of course everybody feels bad when fans get beaten up," he added.

The Unbeaten Indian team will look to solve the bowling troubles

An unbeaten Indian team will look to find a few answers to their bowling woes when they meet a hot and cold Netherlands in their World Cup Group B match at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi on Wednesday.

Co-hosts India are leading the group with wins against Bangladesh and Ireland and a nerve-wrangling tied match against England.

While the batting has shown depth and maturity with the team crossing the 300-run mark twice, the bowling has lacked punch [ID:nLDE7260LO].

India has vowed to play seven batsmen in their team with the part-time spinners handling the fifth bowler's job and it has meant that there has been a lack of wicket-taking options.

But the hard-fought victory against Ireland on Sunday has only made captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni more determined in playing seven specialist batsmen.

"The most important thing was everyone got a chance to bat and we were batting under pressure. It was very good exposure for all the batsmen," captain Dhoni said after their five-wicket victory against Ireland.

"These are the games where you feel it's always good to have a batsman at number seven."

Although Yuvraj Singh will occasionally silence the critics with his part-time spin, India will need their regular spinners to fire more often.

Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, while showing a lot of variation, has been expensive and there has been talk of bringing in off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for Chawla.

"We are showing signs of improvement," Dhoni said about his team's bowling.

"I think it's important to peak at the right time since it's a long tournament. What we have seen is slow and gradual improvement in the bowling side."

Netherlands, for their part, started the tournament on a high, racking up 292 for six against England in their first match.

But their form has declined ever since as they got shot out for 115 against West Indies and 120 against South Africa in their next two matches.

They are lying at the bottom of Group B with three straight losses.

WI, Bangladesh captains declare that there is no issue with UDRS

DHAKA: The Indian cricket board is backing captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni over his controversial statement about the implementation of the Umpire Decision Review Decision (UDRS) after a decision went against them in the thrilling tie against England but not many skippers in the World Cup are willing to throw in their hats in the ring.

West Indies captain Darren Sammy refused to be drawn into the affair saying, "You have to ask the BCCI to answer this not me".

About his view on UDRS Sammy said, "I think it's a good asset to have in today's game as it minimizes errors. It brings out the correct decision most of the time. I've have no problems with it. It's a good addition to the game."

Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan, too, felt that the UDRS is more beneficial than detrimental. "I have no complains, I don't know about the others," he said.

"Technology helps, maybe not 100 per cent of the times. I still feel we should use it," added Shakib.

Dhoni had said that "adulteration of the technology with human intervention wasn't good for the game".

India on its part hasn't approved the use of UDRS stating that the technology isn't true at all times.

Very Hard to improve fielding - Dhoni

BANGALORE: India's sloppy fielding nearly cost them defeat against England but skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted it would be difficult to lift standards in his ageing side.

India racked up a huge score of 338 in their clash on Sunday in Bangalore, helped by a century from Sachin Tendulkar, but the match ended in a dramatic tie after England skipper Andrew strauss hit 158.

The host nation's powerful batting line-up has fired in both World Cup matches so far but there are growing concerns about their bowling and fielding after conceding 283 in their win against Bangladesh and 338 against England.

Dhoni said it would be tough to boost fielding standards due to the make-up of the squad after a cumbersome fielding performance. "I don't think we can improve the fielding very much because we have got quite a few slow fielders in the side," he said. "But as far as the bowling department is concerned I think we have got a talented group so hopefully in the coming games we can improve a lot."

Tendulkar is the oldest player in the squad, at 37, with Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan both 32 but a number of other players are also nearing 30.

Giving his reaction to the sensational tie, Dhoni said: "I am not disappointed, not excited. I have got mixed feelings. There were times when we could have lost, and times when we could have won the match."

"It was a thrilling match because both the teams were facing defeat or victory at some point. All credit to England for the way they batted," he added.

Asked about his frequent discussions with Sehwag during the England innings, Dhoni said he consulted senior players for the good of the team.

"There are quite a few decisions you have to make. We have some experienced guys and we are always trying to make the best decisions for the team," he said.

"I always let the fast bowlers set the field when they are bowling. It's only when they don't work I set my own."

Asked about the inclusion of leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, Dhoni said he was not sure whether three seamers would have given the right balance.

He said paceman Ashish Nehra needed to be 100 percent fit to be considered for selection.

Dhoni Get Offers if india Win World Cup

The St Xavier's College in Ranchi has welcomed the Jharkhand government's plan to award an honorary degree to Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Jharkhand human resource development (HRD) minister Baidyanath Ram last week announced the plan to give the honorary degree to Dhoni as a giftElectric Scooter in India

if India win the cricket world cup starting Feb 19.
"We welcome the government's announcement to award an honorary degree to Dhoni. We will do the needful if we get a proposal from the government," Father Nicolas Tete, principal of the college, said.

College students are also excited over the announcement.

"We will be happy if Dhoni is gifted an honorary degree as an award for winning the world cup after 28 years," said Rajesh Sen, a final year graduation student. Hyundai Dealers in India

Dhoni is not a graduate. He took admission to a graduation course in 2008 in St Xavier's College but could not find time to complete it.