MS Dhoni: India played terrible cricket in the ODI series

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said his team had played terrible cricket en route to their 4-0 whitewash against New Zealand and blamed the team for their collective lack of application with the ball and the bat.

India lost the fifth and final ODI by 87 runs to go down 0-4 in the five-match series, the third match of which ended in a tie.

“Throughout this series, they (New Zealand) have played very good cricket. Their new ball pair has been very good but where they’ve taken the game away is in the middle overs batting which set up their charge late in the innings, picking up 80-90 runs consistently,” Dhoni said after the drubbing.

Asked about his own team’s performance, a visibly drained Dhoni said, “It is important to improvise and adapt quickly, which we have failed to do.”

“From the talent point of view these are the players who have done very well in the past, winning the Champions Trophy.

But they have to back themselves to play their strokes and the execution was lacking,” he added.