Consistency will give us confidence, says MS Dhoni

 

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin weaved his magic with a career-best four-wicket haul as India today trounced Sri Lanka by nine wickets in the deciding third and final Twenty20 International to clinch the three-match series 2-1.

And Dhoni feels his boys need to be expressive going into upcoming important assignments.

"I feel it was a very good game, important we restricted them to a decent total. Ashwin was the pick but he was well supported by the others. In between you will lose one or two games. We want to keep playing the way we re playing. Consistency will give us the confidence," Dhoni said at the post match press conference.

"We need to be expressive, the fans will put the pressure on us but we need to take it one game at a time," the skipper said when asked about their chances in the ICC World Twenty20 to be hosted at home turf.

Dhoni also said the experience of playing in the Indian Premier League has held them in good stead in the shortest format of the game.

"Eight seasons of IPL has given us the experience. Always good to have the conditions suiting you to an extent. Spinners can come into play here, which gives us the liberty to try out a few things," he said.

Man-of-the-match Ashwin said he is presently reaping the benefits of his hardwork.

"I hope this lasts forever. The ball is coming out pretty well. I've been working pretty hard, I want to contribute and attribute to the team rather than being a deficiency," he said.

"I thought I would get a five-for today. The wicket had a bit of dampness in it. I have a couple of variation when using the new ball. I want to keep the batsmen guessing, and wickets makes me a different bowler. I always have the courage to flight the ball."

Sri Lanka skipper Dinesh Chandimal said batsmen let the islanders down in the entire series.

"We didn't perform well throughout the series as batsmen. If we got 140-plus, we would have had a chance, but we didn't do that. Losing wickets happens with an inexperienced team," he said.

"I'm impressed with our bowlers, Shanaka and Chameera. We need to regroup as a team."

Mahendra Singh Dhoni becomes first captain to win 30 Twenty20 International matches

The 34-year-old has led India 56 times in the shortest format of the games, winning 30 games, with a success rate of 55.45%. Besides the 24 defeats, there were a No Result and a Tie too.

Dhoni also holds the record for most matches as captain.

Ireland captain William Porterfield has 43 matches with 23 wins in the second place, ahead of West Indian Darren Sammy, with 41 matches and 22 wins.

Yesterday, India won the second match of the three-match series at Dhoni's home-ground Ranchi by 69 runs thanks to an all-round show from both the batsmen and bowlers.

Shikhar Dhawan made a career-best 51 off 25 deliveries, and after a solid foundation with fellow opener Rohit Sharma, who made 43 off 36, India posted 196 runs.

In defence, Indian bowlers dismissed the Lankans for 127 with Ravinchandran Ashwin taking three wickets, while conceding only 14 runs from his four overs spell.

Ashish Nehra, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah also got two wickets each.

Third and final match will be played tomorrow at Visakhapatnam.