I didn''t say we''re fatigued: Dhoni

Chennai, Feb 15 (PTI) After creating a flutter byclaiming that India were not "mentally prepared" for thepre-World Cup warm-up matches, cricket captain Mahendra SinghDhoni today said his comments were misconstrued and he did notimply that the team was battling fatigue.

"It was not fatigue at all. It is the mental preparationlevel...to be in the same scenario...to be 100 per cent for a(warm-up) game," Dhoni clarified ahead of the second warm-upmatch against New Zealand tomorrow.

"We are more used to prepare for a game 100 per cent andall of a sudden you have to prepare for a warm-up game whichI have not played many, right from the start of my career fromschool cricket or district," he explained.

"It was a different scenario and you have to preparedifferently. That was the only difference and it had nothingto do with fatigue," he added.

Dhoni, after the 31-run win over Australia in the firstwarm-up, had raised quite a few eyebrows by saying, "themindset was not really there. Mentally we were not ready,that''s one of the reasons we couldn''t bat well."

But today Dhoni said even in a practice match, thecompetitive streak takes over once the players hit the ground.

"The heart rate goes up a bit in the practice game. Youwant to score runs irrespective of the fact that it is apractice game," he said.

"In the net session you don''t get to know whether athickish outside edge carries to the slip or goes to theboundary. In a match, it''s an ideal reflection and you seeexactly where the ball goes," he added.