India pulled off the second and third highest-ever successful run chases in ODI in the ongoing series against Australia but captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni gave a twist to the talk of his side's awesome batting display by putting a question mark on the direction the limited-over game is moving.
India and Australia have together scored a phenomenal 2565 runs from the four matches played so far, excluding the 295 the visiting team scored in the abandoned Ranchi ODI. The fifth ODI of the seven-match series in Cuttack was also washed out. "I think it's something we need to think about (that so many high run chases have been achieved of late).
Is 350 the new 280, 290 or 300?" he asked after India chased down 351 in the sixth ODI here today. India had chased down 360 in the second ODI in Jaipur on October 16. "With the new bowlers they are mostly getting smashed. Even the fast bowlers are bowling with their third man up and fine leg up.
Not sure where it's going but if we are chasing like this, it is not going to be good for the long-term health of the game. Only seeing boundaries and sixes for seven hours?" he wondered. Nonetheless, Dhoni praised his batsmen for the stunning run chase. "I think Shikhar and Rohit batted really well, and Shikhar got a century, but for Rohit it was one of those days when you can't find the gaps and he absorbed the pressure so well," he said.
"Yes I think Virat was brilliant, the reason being that as the ball got old he was counterattacking and maintaining a good position when going for the big shots. He made it look easy and the way he took pressure off the batsmen was amazing. Its always about taking the pressure off the new batsman," said Dhoni of Kohli (115 not out) who hit the third fastest hundred by an Indian from just 61 balls.
Asked about the seventh ODI in Bangalore which has now turned out to be the summit showdown, Dhoni said, "Bangalore is known for its big runs so not sure how much we will need to chase or how much we have to set to chase over there." "It is disappointing (that we lost). Still a beautiful batting wicket so you don't see many batters complaining about it.
Virat played an unbelievable knock and when a guy is batting well that is all you can do," he said. "We needed to find early breakthroughs. You can always do things differently, that never changes, win or lose, but we fought our way back into the game really well. We made them hit really good shots."
Reminded that he has scored the highest runs by an Australian against India when he hit his career-best 156 today, Bailey said, "But we are losing mate. If you are a spectator you will be loving this (high-scoring matches) so we are really looking forward to Bangalore."u00a0
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