Nothing is a safe score in T20 cricket: Dhoni

“None of the (previous) tournaments we have won was because of good luck, there is nothing called good luck. You have to execute your plans well. When an individual is given that tough responsibility of bowling one over when there is pressure, he bowls a good over, he executes his plan; ultimately you win the game. It is not about if X is the captain you will win the series or if the other guy is the captain you will lose the series. It is about what the plan is, how well the guys have executed it. Also, it is not as if West Indies will say ‘OK, MS Dhoni is the captain, let us give him the victory’. They are also here to win matches.”

The glittering array of batting strike force in the West Indies ranks could have forced India to try to overreach, but Dhoni said his team had stuck steadfastly to not falling into that trap. “We have to keep reviewing (what is a good total),” pointed out Dhoni. “If you see the Indian brand of cricket, we take one or two overs, we see how the wicket is behaving and according to that we make plans. You evaluate every 3-4 overs, at times in two overs also, depending on who is bowling. That has been our strength.

“We always get a score that is a par plus score. Right from the start, if you think about the big hitters and start looking as 210 as a good score, you may end up getting 160 or 170 and that may not be enough on a wicket like this. You always look to back your strengths, go for a par plus score, don’t go for a score that is an absolute score. What we have seen in this format is that nothing is a safe score. We have seen 220, 230 also getting chased down, so depending on your strength and the depending on the wicket, we decide this is the score and make sure we reach there.”

India did reach the score it desired, but the dew, no-balls, and Johnson Charles, Lendl Simmons and Andre Russell gatecrashed its party.