The Chennai Super Kings skipper has no qualms admitting that his batting has been "pathetic" so far in the tournament.
His flop-show in the Indian Premier League has left Mahendra Singh Dhoni frustrated and the Chennai Super Kings skipper has no qualms admitting that his batting has been "pathetic" so far in the tournament.
"I think my batting is pathetic in the tournament so far," Dhoni said.
Chennai is riding high on back-to-back wins but Dhoni's reputation as an explosive batsman is at stake after the star player managed just 107 runs at an average of 21.
Dhoni said he was desperate for a good knock.
"All the big-hitters including Albie Morkel, me and Jacob Oram didn't really click. We need to perform in the future as we are a side that relies heavily on its batting."
"If one of us clicks in future and with our top-order performing well we can give good targets to our bowlers to defend. And that is our strategy," Dhoni said.
Overall, Dhoni said he was satisfied with his team's performance and lauded new find Shadab Jakati, the left-arm spinner who took four wickets in Saturday night's match against the Delhi Daredevils.
"It is a very open tournament and people are always looking for fresh talent. Jakati was part of our side even last year. We had a decent batting line-up last year, so we used to play an extra batsman to strengthen our batting," Dhoni said.
"But this season things have changed, the spinners are able to get good amount of purchase from the wicket as the innings progress. The batsmen tend to go after the spinners and take their chances and that this is one of the reasons why spinners have been so successful in the tournament," Dhoni said.
Dhoni said with youngsters doing well, the selectors would be spoilt for choice when they pick the Indian squad for the Twenty20 World Championship in England in June.
"The more difficult it becomes, the better for us. We will go with the best 15 players in the ICC World Twenty20. So I am quite happy," he said.
Dwelling on his team, Dhoni said it's a balanced squad and hence the task of picking the playing XI was a difficult one.
"More often you will see these four overseas players in our playing XI -- Matthew Hayden, Muttiah Muralitharan, Jacob Oram and Albie Morkel. They are an integral part of the team. Until and unless someone gets injured or loses form we are not going to change them."
"So, it is not really difficult to pick the playing XI," he added.
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