Piyush Chawla needs to contribute with bat as well, says Dhoni

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels that leg-spinner Piyush Chawla needs to contribute with the bat lower down the order during the World Cup.

Chawla’s four for 31 in nine overs set up India’s 38-run victory against the Australians here Sunday night.

“Well, he has done really well in whatever games he has played. But I think he needs to contribute with the bat. One of the main reasons for his selection was our need to have a specialist spinner who could also bat a bit. If he could bat a bit better and contribute 15-20 runs then it would be good for the side. But as a specialist spinner he has done well in whatever games he has played,” Dhoni said.

Mahi also warned everybody not to take the victory too seriously, as it was just a practice game.

“For the warm-up games it is mentally difficult to prepare yourself. In a year, if you play 35-odd ODIs, 10 Test matches and 45 days of IPL and Champions League and then all of a sudden when you hear that you have a warm-up game and 15 players are playing in that game, it is a difficult scenario to mentally prepare yourself for the game. That was reflected on the field,” he said.

“But, still, if you see the positives in the batting, only two batsmen contributed and still we were able to get 215-odd runs. But I also think that in the middle, when we lost five wickets, the Australian team also backed off a bit, because it is a warm-up game and you don’t want to risk injuries.”
“So, I think, at the end of the day, it is a good performance, but I won’t take too much out of it,” he said.