Dhoni pulls up team for bad fielding

COLOMBO - India defeated Sri Lanka to lift the Compaq Cup here Monday, but skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni certainly did not look happy with the team’s fielding efforts.

Dhoni said if the team had to be there among the top, they cannot afford to make so many mistakes that could have cost them the final.

“We didn’t field well. You got to learn from your mistakes. We made quite a few today on field. Thanks to some characters in the side, we ended up on the winning side.

“It’s very special to us. We are winning here after a long time. But if you are the second best team, you can’t make these kind of mistakes. Hopefully next time, we won’t give width and bowl short to Dilshan.”

India played with fire while defending 319, allowed some freebies to Sri Lankan batsmen.

Thilina Kandamby (66) and Chamara Kapugedera (35) were out to make India bleed with a 70-run stand, thanks to some atrocious fielding by India.

Yusuf Pathan dropped a dolly when Kandamby was on 37. He got two more lives in two run out chances blown away by Yuvraj Singh and skipper Dhoni, who had a bad day in office and also missed an opprttunity to stump Sangakkara earlier.

Dhoni dedicated the victory to former board Indian cricket board chief Raj Singh Dungarpur, who passed away last week.

Man of the series Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 211 runs in the tournament including his 44th ton in the final, said it was a team effort that saw them through.

“It’s been lot of fun out there. The conditions were difficult. Dhoni and Yuvraj played a special innings. Fantastic effort from Harbhajan and supported by others. It was a good team-effort. I lost all my nails. Sri Lanka for producing some fantastic cricket. I would also like to thank the crowd.

“The body is holding up pretty well. Few cramps and stuff but it’s holding up pretty well.”