Rahul regrets denying Dhoni lifeline after failed DRS call
: India batsman K L Rahul says he regrets exhausting the review that could have saved the wickets of MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik in the tied Asia Cup clash against Afghanistan.
Both Dhoni and Karthik were given out leg before in calls that would have been overturned under the Decision Review System (DRS) but India could not appeal as opener Rahul (60) had used up the only review unsuccessfully.
“Obviously, looking back at it, I felt like I shouldn’t have taken the review but at that time, in the middle, I felt like maybe I was struck outside and I wanted to take that chance,” Rahul told reporters in the post-match press conference on Tuesday.
“Sometimes you can sit back here and review the review you took and say maybe you could have left it to the guys at the end but I felt like I could have been struck outside so I took that chance.
Rahul said he would be more cautious in future situations. India are already through to the tournament final, which is scheduled for Friday.
“We learn with it. The shot I played, the review that I took, I’ll have to go back and maybe if it happens again I’ll be in a better position to know what to do,” he said.
India had been set a target of 253 by a determined Afghanistan, who hung in there to steal a tie, bowling out India for 252 in a
DUBAI
thriller.
“We can’t take Afghanistan lightly anymore. They are a very competitive one day and T20 side. As a team, you want to be part of such matches where both team compete until the end. Nonetheless we are still happy we played a game like this,” said Rahul.
India were cruising along at 204/4 before a collapse changed the face of the match dramatically but Rahul rejected suggestions that the middle-order has become a cause of concern for the team.
“I don’t think (middle order) crumbled. Wicket was getting harder to bat. When the ball starts slowing up and spinning like that, it’s hard for middle order batsmen to come and get runs. I think DK played well with Kedar,” he said.
“As opening batsmen when we start like that we back ourselves to finish the game and not to get middle order guys to struggle. I don’t think it’s a concern.
“For any middle order batsman, it is difficult to score. You don’t know how many balls you can take.
“You don’t know how fast is too fast, how slow is too slow. They will learn from their mistakes and they will know how to pace their innings,” he added.