Once Dhoni was out, the game changed: Richardson

Canberra: Australian pacer Kane Richardson, who grabbed a five-for felt that the dismissal of Mahendra Singh Dhoni proved to be a turning point as the home team recorded a 25-run win against India, which seemed improbable at one point of time.

Richardson, who scalped 5/68 also felt that Ajinkya Rahane's injury also became a factor for the visitors.

It is a quality line-up but a big part of the run-chase was that Ajinkya Rahane wasn't fit. So we knew that it would come down to Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni. They made hundreds and played a hell of an innings. We knew if we could get Virat out, after Dhoni, then the rest are fairly inexperienced players and it would all fall on Ravindra Jadeja. The one over changed the game," said Richardson after taking 5-68 on Wednesday.

"It's 100 per cent Dhoni's wicket was the turning point of the match. At one stage, we thought we could lose in the 40^th over, so it was definitely the key moment for us. We kept telling ourselves that we needed to get one of those two and then John Hastings got both Dhawan and Dhoni in the same over. He deserves a lot of credit for changing the game," he added.

Read: Not angry but disappointed, I take full responsibility: Dhoni

Australia scored 348/8 batting first, riding on a century from Aaron Finch. Even as their batsmen flayed the Indian attack, Richardson knew what was coming their way.

The way India batted, I hope Finch's innings isn't forgotten. It was a seriously good innings. We loved it watching it in the dugout but we knew we had to go out and bowl on that pitch. Finch loves Canberra and it is his wicket.

Australia vs India, 4th ODI: Press conference - Kane Richardson #IndvsAus https://t.co/hp86E039Wf #BCCI

— DC Sports (@_DCSports) January 20, 2016

 

"That's a really good century for him going into the match in Sydney, and he is our T20 captain as well. So he is a quality player, like most of our batsmen, and our batting is really confident at this moment," he said.