Aware that his team often fumbles when it comes to chasing big totals, Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he would like to bat first.
DURBAN: The big boys have come to the party, Chris Gayle, Justin Kemp and on Wednesday Shahid Afridi got into the act albeit briefly. MS Dhoni could add to the entertainment on Thursday at the Kingsmead.
Dhoni has never captained India in an international game before. He led the side against the England Lions in a tour
game. Now, he couldn’t have asked for a better stage — India’s opening match of the T20 World Cup.
Dhoni promises no let up in his aggressive style of batsmanship. “I believe in playing the type of game that has allowed me to play international cricket. That is what works for me,” the Indian skipper said on the eve of the India’s game against Scotland.
On Tuesday, Dhoni watched the West Indies versus South Africa opener at the Wanderers from Durban. He, like many of his teammates, has changed his outlook after that game.
“Before the match most of the guys said that 200 is a very good score for a T20 match, but after the game I think most of them have changed their opinion. So it was a good game, the way Chris batted and the way South Africa replied back it was a great total. Now I think 250 is a safe score,” he said.
If Dhoni wins the toss and the weather is fair, then the rookie captain will decide to bat.
“A lot depends on the conditions and the wicket and at what time you are playing the game. We would love to bat, but it is not confirmed yet. It depends on the conditions,” he added.
“But it is always better to bat in a sense, especially when you have a side that hasn’t played too many Twenty20 games,” the Indian skipper said.
“When you bat at No.6 or No.7 the required rate is always over eight. If you see the West Indies versus South Africa game you would realize that most of the shots played throughout the match were proper cricketing shots. So it is a big challenge,” Dhoni added.
On the eve of the game, the team has been trying tune-up a bit. “We are working hard in the little time we have. The attention is on areas like bowling in the death, bowling at the start and how we can use the new ball to get early wickets.
“We would have loved to get some more time here in South Africa but we had only two sessions,” Dhoni added.
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