T20 format doesn't require too much use of brain, says MS Dhoni

Cuttack, Oct 6: Having slumped to an embarrassing T20I series defeat against South Africa, limited overs captain MS Dhoni said that "one bad performance per year" serves him a timely reminder that one should not use "too much brain" in shortest format.

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"On and off, we have seen performances like these in T20s. Every year, we at least have one performance, where we are not up to the mark. Maybe this is the performance and we will play freely in the next games," Dhoni told mediapersons after losing the second T20 International by six wickets.

Although spoken in a lighter vein, Dhoni did say that not playing freely and over-thinking can complicate matters in T20 cricket.

"I personally feel that I used too much brain in this format. It's very important I keep myself free and go and play my strokes. Depending on that I play a bit slow initially. In this format, I believe I should play the big shots from the word go irrespective of whatever the scenario is because that's what this format is all about," Dhoni spoke about the need to keep things simple.

Asked about batting higher up the order, Dhoni said: "A lot of time when I go into bat, be it the 16th or 17th over or in the fourth or fifth overs when wickets have fallen down, I have the tendency of like let's go to 130, that will be good score."

"One of the reasons, why I want to bat up the order is that somebody else takes the responsibility of batting lower down the order, say No 6 which is a very crucial position," Dhoni defended sending Ambati Rayudu up the batting order.

"Unless they are exposed, you cannot tell who is good at it. We have played a lot of cricket and lot of guys have not been successful at No 6. We have seen them perform well at the top of the order but have struggled lower down.

"Someone has to take the responsibility of batting down. If I start batting at No 5, at least someone else will take up that responsibility. You need to have it in your back-up plan in the years to come," said the Indian captain.

PTI