Mirpur: Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni blamed the Indian batsmen, saying that it was their reckless shot selection along with an untimely injury to seamer Ashish Nehra that cost India the final of the Idea cup tri-series against Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

Put into bat on a pitch that had something in it for the bowlers, India were bowled out for a meagre 245. It was due to the efforts of Suresh Raina (106), Ravindra Jadeja (38) and Virender Sehwag (42) that India even reached a respectable total.

After the match, Dhoni was in no mood to hide his anger. “I don’t think the shot selection of our batsmen was great. Thanks to Suresh and Ravindra, we made it a contest but the batsmen should have been more careful,” a displeased Dhoni said after India lost the final by four wickets.

“You just cannot go out and go with the momentum of the series. We played this tournament on pitches where scoring wasn’t an issue. But today there was quite bounce in it and we should have been careful which we were not,” added the Indian skipper.

Defending a modest total of 245, India were dealt an early blow, with Ashish Nehra, who had removed Upul Tharanga in the first over, leaving the field because of a groin injury, having sent down just eight deliveries.

Dhoni thought that had the left-arm seamer been there his team could have put more pressure on the Lankans.

“I think if we hadn’t lost Ashish we would have fancied our chances,” Dhoni said. “There wasn’t any dew there. Pacers were getting the reverse swing and the spinners got turns. We did miss a bowler. (S) Sreesanth went for some runs initially but came back well with the old ball.”

So annoyed was Dhoni with the team’s performance that he wasn’t even satisfied with Raina’s hundred saying that the left-hander should have tried and batted till the end. “We could have got another 20 runs in that case. But he is young and learning it. Maybe next time he would try and do that,” Dhoni said.

Even though he was pained at losing the trophy, Dhoni said one positive was the bowlers’ return to form. “The good news is that the bowlers are returning to form, which is positive for us. As a team, we rely mainly on the batsmen but it’s good to see the bowlers striking form,” he said.

His Sri Lankan counterpart, Kumar Sangakkara, adjudged Man of the Series, meanwhile, was beaming after the win and said he had no complaints from his team.

“I always say that we have a number of match-winners in (Tillakaratne) Dilshan, Tharanga and Mahela (Jayawardene). We got a good start today and then Mahela finished it brilliantly. Both the opening bowlers (Nuwan Kulasekhara and Chanaka Welegedara) gave us early wickets and even though we could have been tighter in the middle overs, it was a great show in the end,” Sangakkara said.

“It was great how the youngsters came to the party and gelled with the seniors. I also want to say a big thank you to the selectors. There is a lot of pressure on them back home but they kept faith in the guys, so a big thank you,” he said.

Man-of-the-Match Nuwan Kulasekara, who scalped four for 48 in his impressive 10 overs, said he would relish Sehwag’s wicket most. “I am very happy because this is my first Man of the Match award outside my country. They had a good batting lineup, we needed wickets early. We came with a plan, and it worked. I enjoyed Sehwag’s wicket the most,” he said.

Tagged with: India, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Mirpur, Sri Lanka, Suresh Raina

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