Dhoni, Ponting acknowledge importance of batting power-play

By Rahul Bajaj
for Cricketain.com

Published: October 27, 2009

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Nagpur: After playing a thrilling series opener which went on till the last over of the match, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his Australian counterpart Ricky Ponting have acknowledged the importance of batting power-plays saying how one uses it can largely influence the result of the game.

India lost the first ODI of the seven-match series by a narrow four-run margin against Australia on Sunday and both the captains said that performance during the power-plays can have a bearing on the match. Chasing 293 to win, India were comfortably placed at 167 for three at one stage but the match turned on it head when skipper Dhoni opted for the batting-power play and ended up losing four wickets in that period.

“We lost wickets during power-plays, too many in fact. That was the turning point. If you don’t have enough wickets in hand you cannot cash in on the power-play,” Dhoni said.

Dhoni also defended his decision to take power-play a little early — between 35 and 39 overs — saying that the Indian conditions demanded that move. He reckoned that in the sub-continent conditions the batting power-play can be best utilised against a hard ball, so when ball got changed after 34 overs, he opted for it.

“In the sub-continent you want the ball to be hard, as once the bowlers work on the ball they get reverse swing going and once it happens it’s difficult to force the pace.”

Australian skipper Ponting admitted that his team take power-plays seriously and do adequate planning. “We got to get it right because it can cost you a game, as you saw today (Sunday). We have been guilty of it in the last few games that we have played. When we take our power-play, we have generally lost a wicket in the first over. We lost one (Cameron White) to the second ball of our PP today. India lost one first ball. If you lose wickets in a power-play, it slows you down and makes it almost irrelevant,” Ponting said.

Ponting also wondered why batsmen do not play orthodox shots during power-plays but just throw their bat at each and everything. “Once the field comes in, you think you have to hit a six every ball. If you still play normal cricket shots, like you do in Test matches, you can still hit the ball through the field and it travels pretty quickly,” he said.

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