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We did not think the Eden Gardens wicket would turn so much: Dhoni

March 20, 2016 00:16 IST

IMAGE: Indian captain MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli after beating Pakistan in the ICC T20 World T20 match at Eden Gardens. Photograph: PTI.

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has said that he did expect turn but no so much of turn from the wicket at the Eden Gardens during their World T20 win against arch rivals Pakistan.

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"Not like this (expect to turn). In the second half, it got slightly better, and they had only one spinner. Initially, when we saw the pitch we did not think it would turn so much," he said.

"I think we can do better, there are areas we can improve, once we get into the knockouts you won't get a second chance." Dhoni defended his decision of not playing extra spinner to the fact that this kind of turn was not apprehended. 

"If I knew from the start if it would turn so much, I have no problems playing another spinner." But Dhoni explained why he wanted a third seamer in Pandya, because of the dew for instance, and because he has a lot of back up spin options. 

Shahid Afridi also spoke in the same vein about not expecting a pitch like this. 

"I was not expecting a pitch like this, I think we were a bit short with runs - 30 runs short. We didn't bowl in the right areas, I did not bowl well. Virat Kohli batted really well."

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