MS Dhoni returned at the helm of Team India as the skipper after a long gap. But he was handed yet another series defeat by South Africa in the ongoing three-match T20 series.
After the second consecutive loss in the T20s against South Africa, captain cool felt that one should not use too much of brain in this format of the international game and should play big shots right from the onset of innings.
"I personally feel that I used too much brain in this format. It's very important I keep myself free and go and play my strokes. Depending on that, I play a bit slow initially. In this format, I believe I should play the big shots from the word go, irrespective of whatever the scenario is because that's what this format is all about," Dhoni told reporters at the post-match press conference on Monday.
"On and off, we have seen performances like these in T20s. Every year, we have at least one performance, where we are not up to the mark. Maybe this is the performance and we will play freely in the next games," he said.
Dhoni has maintained his no. 6 position in the batting order despite the tough situations India were put into in the first two matches of the series. In the second T20, one felt that he should have come ahead of Ambati Rayudu (who is yet to open his scoring sheet in this series) and also in the first game. "One of the reasons why I want to bat up the order is that somebody else takes the responsibility of batting lower down the order, say No 6, which is a very crucial position. A lot of time when I go into bat, be it the 16th or 17th over or in the fourth or fifth overs when wickets have fallen down, I have the tendency of let's go to 130, that will be good score," Dhoni said.
"Unless they are exposed, you cannot tell who is good at it. We have played a lot of cricket and lot of guys have not been successful at No 6. We have seen them perform well at the top of the order but have struggled lower down. Someone has to take the responsibility of batting down. If I start batting at No 5, at least someone else will take up that responsibility. You need to have it in your back-up plan in the years to come," Dhoni added.
Dhoni will have a lot to worry about ahead of the third T20 game in Kolkata on Thursday. India have nothing to lose and to be honest they should be playing their natural game and avoid a white-wash in the T20 series. If the hosts manage to emerge victorious in the third T20 game, then they will be able to carry the momentum forward into the five-match ODI series, which will be starting after the ongoing series.
