Bowlers have really stepped up: Dhoni

Perth, Feb 28 (IANS) India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni Saturday said his bowlers have elevated their level of performance, producing another exquisite bowling exhibition against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in a World Cup Pool B encounter at the WACA here.

“The bowlers have really stepped up and in a team sport it starts to reflect in other departments too. We dropped one catch today but the fielding has been brilliant,” Dhoni said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Ravichandran Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers, bagging career-best figures of 4/25. He was well supported by fast bowler Umesh Yadav and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who picked up two wickets each, thus helping bowl out UAE for a paltry 102. The defending champions in reply chased the target down in 18.5 overs with nine wickets remaining.

Before the World Cup, India failed to win a single game Down Under, be it the Tests or the tri-series, largely owing to the dismal outing of the bowlers who regularly failed to pick up 10 wickets.

“When we are losing quite a few games outside the subcontinent, it was an area of concern that we were not getting wickets in the middle overs. Now we are getting wickets with the new ball and the spinners are able to put more pressure on the batsmen in the middle overs,” said the skipper.

Asked about seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has made a comeback following an injury, the 33-year-old said, “(Bhuvneshwar) looked good. First five overs he bowled, he was looking sharper than he did when he came back from the injury and played the Test match. If he plays a few more games, we can see how he can bowl in the death overs also."