India : Knocked out of T20 world cup

After India's humiliating exit from the World T20, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has said his side failed to play to its potential and admitted the IPL had taken a toll.


While making a reference to the Indian Premiere League (IPL), Dhoni said players need to manage their time better between playing, attending parties and travelling.

Players need to be smart, not only about cricket, but other things going around in the IPL. You have to respect your body and give some time to it because more than playing matches, attending parties and travel can take a toll, he said.

India needed to win by at least 20 runs against Sri Lanka but lost the Super Eights match by five wickets to crash out of the elite ICC event.
India looked set for big score as they were 90 for one in 10 overs after electing to bat and could score just 163 for five and ended up losing all second round matches.

"I think execution of plans from their bowlers was very good, even with set batsmen we couldn't score freely. Overall, batting is our strength and we should have done better. We didn't perform to our potential. The last 4-5 overs that they bowled really restricted us. We need to improve in quite a few areas," Dhoni said after the match.

Sri Lanka enhanced their chances of making the semifinals with this win and captain Kumar Sangakkara had nothing but praise for his bowlers.


"At the end, we were chasing at least 144. Even I thought India would make a very big score, but the guys came back really well at the back end to cut off the runs and to pick up wickets as well," he said.


"Dilshan really got the momentum back after the early wickets, and we have always talked about how good our young players are, and they showed that today. Whatever happens after this, we can rest assured we have done the best we can."

Angelo Mathews, adjudged Man-of-the-Match for his crucial 46-run knock said,"I had to give a good performance with the bat, I'm glad I did it at the right time."