It's a special win because of the circumstances : Dhoni on Asia cup triumph
Skipper M S Dhoni called the Asia Cup victory a special win given the tough conditions the tournament presented and praised the team and especially opener Dhawan for the confidence-booster ahead of the T20 WC. Dhoni reserved special praise for the Bangladesh team calling them a “fantastic squad”.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni took India past the ropes with a six as usual for their maiden Asia Cup T20. The Indian captain was full of praise for the team calling it a special win. "It's a special win because of the circumstances. Before getting into the world cup the kind of performances the team has given, they will carry a lot of confidence going into the T20 world cup. It helps us get into the groove. Getting into the World cup, hopefully we can carry forward the momentum we have got." Dhoni said in the press conference.
Shikhar Dhawan was man of the match in the final and his performance drew adulation from the captain. "As far as Shikhar is concerned, it was a well-paced innings. In between, he slowed down but I don't think we needed a lot of runs. It was the best batting wicket in the whole tournament and I thought our bowlers did a good job in restricting them to 120 runs and we had the fire power to get those number of runs," Dhoni said.
After another final win, Dhoni talked about the pressure of playing in a final no matter how many times you have done it before. "The biggest thing about a final is it is a knockout game. If its an off day for you, you're completely out and you have to start all over again. So it's a special win for us."
Before yesterday, India held a bad record having lost twice to Bangladesh at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium. When asked if it added extra pressure, Dhoni said, "It always helps to stay in the present. If you start thinking about what happened the last time when we were here, of course you always feel hurt. But at the same time, what is important is to forget all of that and focus on the present"
Dhoni was also critical of the media saying "India losing the final would make a bigger headline than India winning a final. It's like a game where there is a lot at stake, but when you win, you don't take anything home."
At the same time, Dhoni noted how the Bangladesh team had evolved over the years with a much stronger team at their disposal now. "It's not like the 2004 Bangladesh team. They have a fantastic squad right now," noted Dhoni.Â
The spinners contributed yet again for Team India, chipping in with wickets at regular intervals and Dhoni took notice. "I feel spinners are always special irrespective of the format. At times they may not get a lot of purchase when it comes to Test cricket, but when it comes to this format it's not very easy to get away with just playing the big shots. That's where spinners are very good. If they have some kind of assistance, they can exploit it" he said.
But on the fast bowling department, Dhoni lamented losing Shami at such a key juncture and discussed the toss-up between Shami and Nehra in case he returns in time. "For Shami to replace, it would be Ashish (Nehra). Ashish's is the only slot but to replace Ashish would be very tough. The reason being he's done very well for us, he's moved the ball around. But again Shami has a bit of time," he said.Â