Dhoni, Kirsten differ on causes of World Cup debacle

Nottingham, June 16 (PTI) Indian captain Mahendra Singh
Dhoni and coach Gary Kirsten sharply disagreed on the causes
of the team's early exit from the Twenty20 World Cup.

After India's shock defeat at the hands of England in the
last Super Eight match, Dhoni had told journalists that he
would not blame the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the
debacle.

However, Kirsten said too much of cricket by his team and
the timing of IPL were the main reasons for India not being
able to defend their title in England and hinted that he may
pull out his players from next edition of the IPL to keep them
fit.

Kirsten said the fatigue factor and injuries sustained by
the players in IPL took a toll on Dhoni and his players.

"A lot of our cricketers carried niggles in this
tournament. We picked up niggles in the IPL and lost contact
with them," Kirsten told reporters here.

The former South African opener's views were in stark
contrast to what Dhoni had said immediately after India's
ouster on Sunday.

"It's demanding but I wouldn't offer it as excuse. I
wouldn't blame IPL. But I don't think anybody say that my team
or I didn't give our 100 per cent in matches. If they say,
that would spoil the party for me. Performing or not
performing is a different issue. I'm not worried about it,"
Dhoni had said after the heart-breaking three-run loss to
England.

But Kirsten contradicted Dhoni by dismissing the idea
that playing IPL could actually prepare the Indian team play
better.

"It's a domestic competition. There are a few top
cricketers and then first class cricketers making up the rest.

"There is a reasonably big gap between IPL and
international cricket. When the best 11 players are
representing a country, naturally the standard is going to go
up substantially," he said.

India managed easy wins against minnows Bangladesh and
Ireland in the preliminary stages of the T20 World Cup while
losing against the West Indies and England to end their
campaign in the tournament.

The next T20 World Cup will be held next year in
April-May in the West Indies.

Kirsten minced no words and said Indian team was not
fresh and fit to take on tough opponents after the IPL, which
came close on the heels of excessive international cricket
since January.

"We were not as energetic as we were in New Zealand... we
were relatively tired when we arrived here. We have been on
the road since end of January.

"We were not sure if we should increase the training or
give sufficient rest. In the end, we gave them as much rest as
we could so that they could be pumped up for important games."

"But then we had relatively easy games against Bangladesh
and Ireland. We then came up against the West Indies and were
found wanting. We realised how tough the battle could be
against a high quality international side," Kirsten said.

The coach claimed that because of niggles a lot of his
players were not in the best of form and their problems
against short-pitched deliveries thus got magnified.

"If we could have executed our skills the way we wanted
to, we could have won the game. In Rohit Sharma and Suresh
Raina) we have two incredibly talented young cricketers for
India for one especially the going has been tough in this
tournament.

"But I have no doubt he would come through and continue
to make his mark. We have played short-pitched bowling in
other conditions so that's something which is not new,"
Kirsten said.

The former South African opener said a lot of players in
the side had taken this defeat badly and how they recover from
it would decide how prepared they are to improve. The first
evidence could come when Indians play last Super Eight game
against South Africa.

"We are bitterly disappointed. We haven't done something
people could be proud of. I saw 15 faces in the changing room
and some of them were really hurt. We have come to expect good
performances and so it hurt."

"MS (Dhoni) then said where do we move from here. We need
to be positive and pick ourselves up. We have to go and win
tomorrow and give it everything," Dhoni said.

Kirsten, however, praised Dhoni and described him as one
of the most exceptional leaders that he had seen in his life.

"He is an extremely professional cricketer. He is one of
the most exceptional leaders that I have seen in any walks of
my life. He is able to separate the other things from his
cricket and is extremely focused. He is one of the greatest
finishers in the game of cricket.

"We feel in high profile game he is the one who can close
out game for us. We wanted to save Yuvraj, Dhoni and Pathan
for the final 12 overs of the innings," he added.

Kirsten though admitted that Dhoni was still just about
figuring out his game in Twenty20 cricket.

"In 50-overs game, he is one of the greatest finishers
the game has seen. He is trying to do it in Twenty20 cricket
as well. He also wants to balance it with his big hitting. His
batting is improving, he is a fast learner and he would come
good," he said. PTI