Dhoni said he is happy with India's improved performance. He said there were complaints from the lower order batsmen that they did not get time to bat. Now those complaints are neutrallised.
Yesterday, Pathan proved how devastating he can be, with a blistering 30 not out off 24 balls, with 2 fours and three sixes. He came in at a high pressure situation and when he smote the spinner for two consecutive, massive sixes, gone was the pressure ! Definitely, a game changer !
"It was needed (tough test). Scoreboard read it was 208 but it was close to 240. Their bowlers were well supported by their fielders. Everyone got a chance to bat, everyone was under pressure, and when you are chasing against Ireland it adds to pressure. It was very good exposure for the batsmen." said Dhoni.
"We are showing signs of improvement in bowling. Our fielding will be the same, our exceptional fielders can get better but our slow fielders will remain the same. It's important to peak at right time as it is long tournament."
Man of the Match, Yuvraj, seemed to be happy with his superlative performance. "Very happy with my bowling, happy to finish the game, Ireland played well to put us under pressure. Have been discussing with MS what kind of pace I should bowl at."
"Five-for gives you a lot of confidence when you come out to bat. I think they fielded exceptionally, we had to play really well. I'm hitting the ball well down the ground." said the maverick allrounder.
Porterfield, the Irish skipper, said the match could have been different if they had scored 40 more runs.
"We got ourselves in a great position after losing two early wicket, till the run-out of Niall. An extra 40 runs would have been interesting. We are a fighting side, we got three early wickets, there was spin in the pitch."
He said he is bullish about the coming games. "There are three games left, there's no reason we can't beat any of those teams."
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