Kanpur: In his defense for not getting the team over the line in the opening ODI, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Sunday said "his job of a finisher is a gamble and he has to take the blame when he fails".
"Yes when you bat down the order you have to take the blame. When you have finished a lot many games, people remember more about the games you have not finished," said Dhoni after he failed to complete the job in the final over of the chase with India needing 11 runs.
Dhoni (31) and Stuart Binny (2) were holed out while attempting the big hits in the 50th over bowled by Kagiso Rabada as India ended at 298 for seven in reply to South Africa's record 303 for five at Green Park here.
Also Read: South Africa beat India by 5 runs in first ODI, take 1-0 lead in series
Disappointed at not getting the job done, Dhoni said, "It is a gamble (playing the role of a finisher). Sometimes it pays and sometimes it doesn't. But that is my role in the side. I remember one game England and one against Sri Lanka at Rajkot where I couldn't help the team win.
"You have to play the big shots and if the ball is coming on, you can use the pace of the bowlers and get away with it. But wickets like these, where the average bounce is low, it becomes difficult to hit. Also when you going for big shots, it works either way. Having said that, the shot selection was not great in the final over."
What was going in his mind in the final few overs?"Maaro" (hit) was Dhoni's one word reply.India were cruising when Rohit Sharma (150) and Ajinkya Rahane (60) were batting before the middle order failed to do the job. Dhoni praised the batting effort before saying "we could have got more runs close between 35- 40 overs". India needed 90 runs off the last 10 overs with seven wickets in hand.
Dhoni said the absence of injured Ravichandran Ashwin in the death overs of South Africa's innings made a huge difference. Ashwin could only bowl 4.4 overs due to a side strain as India leaked 109 runs in the last 10 overs.
"I felt our batting was really good. Rahane batting at three, Virat at four, followed by myself, Raina and Binny. It looks like a settled lineup with a lot of power and experience to chase big totals. That is why I have said that Rahane needs to bat higher up the order. It looks very strong on paper."
