India set sights on taking WCup catches

KATHMANDU, March 7: India dropped four catches during Friday’s four-wicket win over the West Indies at the WACA Ground West Indies blaster Chris Gayle – one of the most destructive batsmen in world cricket – was the beneficiary of two of those drops.

Gayle scored a whirlwind 215 last week against Zimbabwe.

But he couldn’t make the most of his good luck against India, with the 35-year-old eventually caught for 21.

India are unbeaten after four games.

And with games against Ireland and Zimbabwe to come, India are almost certain to finish on top of Pool A.

But Dhoni knows his team will need to make the most of their chances in the field when the knockout stage rolls around.

“They say catches win matches, so you have to take the catch, especially if players play the big shots like Chris Gayle or Andre Russell – because they only need one chance and, all of a sudden, the scoreboard starts to take on,” Dhoni said.

“If the West Indies would have scored 230 or 240 runs (instead of 182 on Friday), the situation would have been very different.

“If you can get (the big batsmen) out cheaply, that will be a big benefit, and all the sides have got batsmen like that.”

Indian allrounder Ravindra Jadeja continued his lean trot with the bat against the West Indies, scoring just 13.

Jadeja hasn’t posted a ODI score above 15 in the past five months, and Dhoni wants more out of the 26-year-old.

“He needs to step up because we have a lot of faith in him,” Dhoni said.

“But at the end of the day, you can’t really play with hope.

“What you want is actually performance on the field. He has that capability. You don’t get three triple hundreds in India just because you know how to bat.

“He’s definitely talented, but he needs to keep believing in himself.

“Every batsman, he is tested in a few areas. They will bowl short-paced deliveries to him. He will have to find a way in which he can tackle it.”

The West Indies will be forced to sweat on a series of other results as they attempt to scrape into the quarter-finals.

Three losses from five matches have left them shaky, and even a win over the United Arab Emirates on March 15 won’t guarantee them a finals berth.

“Whatever happens in those last preliminary games is beyond my control,” West Indies skipper Jason Holder said.

“What I can control is the game against UAE, and I can assure you that we are going to win that game by all means.

“We just need to be aggressive and finish this preliminary round in a good manner.”