Dhoni criticizes batsmen’s shot selection

India registered their first win at the Adelaide Oval beating Australia by four wickets in the ODI tri-series Sunday. However, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was not impressed by the shot selections of some of his players.

Virender Sehwag (20), Virat Kohli (18) and Rohit Sharma (33) gave their wickets away too easily, allowing Australia to gain a foothold in the game.

“You have to analyse whether you should be playing that shot. There were a few shots we shouldn’t have played in this game so we need to work on that. We need to now concentrate one game at a time,” said Dhoni at the post-match presentation after India chased down Australia’s 269 for eight with two balls to spare.

Sehwag once again succumbed while trying to flick the ball to the on-side, but got a leading edge and was caught at point. Kohli showed some of his inexperience by trying to hit an expansive cover drive but was caught at deep point. Sharma too squandered an opportunity to take the game away from the Australians as he lofted an easy catch to short mid-off.

Dhoni, who started slowly, won India the match when he smashed pacer Clint McKay over his head for a huge six in the last over. With six runs required off three balls, the Indian captain had the rub of the green going his way when he was caught on the square leg boundary on a waist high no-ball. Dhoni also like the man of the match Gautam Gambhir(92) wished his teammate Yuvraj Singh, who is suffering from cancer, a swift recovery.

“This six was very special. The World Cup six was too but we could have done that with singles. Yuvraj will get well soon and I believe he will come out strong,” said Dhoni, who made 44 in the chase.

Australian captain Michael Clarke lamented his side’s fielding display. Clarke however praised debutant Peter Forrest (66) for his half-century.

“Dhoni is a very good one-day player. We were 10-20 short and the fielding was sloppy. Great to see Forrest get an opportunity. He played really well,” Clarke said.

India will face Sri Lanka in the fifth ODI at the same ground Tuesday.