By IANS
Canberra : After the eight-wicket defeat by Sri Lanka here Tuesday, India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the Commonwealth Bank Triangular One-Day Series is still wide-open.
“The tournament is wide open. All the three sides are good and are playing good cricket. So it is very much open,” Dhoni said at Manuka Oval.
This win has brought Sri Lanka well and truly into the reckoning, though they are still lying third behind leaders India (8 points from 4 matches) and Australia (7 points from 3), the third team in the competition. At this stage, Australia are best placed in terms of net run rate (+1.146), followed by India (+0.147) and Sri Lanka (-1.675).
Like his Sri Lanka counterpart Mahela Jayawardene, Dhoni agreed that winning the toss was crucial but added that his team was not disappointed at batting first.
“We were happy to bat first. But it would have been nice had we batted second,” he said.
Dhoni praised youngster Rohit Sharma, who made an unbeaten 70, and said that India’s batting had improved since their humiliating defeat at the hands of Australia in the one-off Twenty20 International in Melbourne Feb 1.
“Rohit has been doing well. We had a decent start and Rohit capitalised on that. Our batting has improved since the Twenty20 game we played here. If we can do that consistently, that would be good,” he said.
The next contest is between Australia and Sri Lanka Friday in Perth while India clash with Australia Sunday in Adelaide.
The competition ends with a best-of-three final next month.