India lacked bowling partnerships in New Zealand ODIs: Munaf

Pacer Munaf Patel today said that dearth of effective bowling partnerships undid India during the last month's five-match ODI series against New Zealand which the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side lost 0-4.
"If you see individually, if in one match somebody has not bowled well, then in another they have done well. But the partnership that needs to be there between the bowlers was lacking and we lost because of that," Munaf told PTI here.
The Baroda bowler, whose career has been racked by injuries and poor form, felt the Indian bowlers were going for plenty of runs in the death overs in the last few series, prompting Dhoni to criticise them.

"When you bowl in slog overs, you need to know what is the kind of delivery you are going to bowl and the area, because a lot of runs are conceded in the slog overs. In the last few months and last few series we have been giving away a lot of runs in the slog overs and perhaps, because of that Dhoni said that bowlers need to use brains."
Munaf said the presence of senior bowler Zaheer Khan in the two-Test rubber that began today at Auckland would help the youngsters, as they can learn from him.
"It makes a lot of difference. If you make a mistake and Zaheer is around, he tries to help and rectify it. The presence of a senior player on the ground is very important."

The 30-year-old paceman, who last represented India in 2011, said as a bowler he did not support the new ODI rules.
"No bowler in the world will agree to these things (rules) because batsmen like the rules that are made against the bowlers and bowlers like those which are made against the batsmen. We are not happy, but whatever rules the ICC (International Cricket Council) makes, we have to follow them," he said.