New Powerplay conditions 'tricky' - Dhoni

MS Dhoni, the India captain, has said that adjusting to the ICC's revised playing conditions regarding Powerplays will be "tricky" during the ODI series against England, which begins in Hyderabad on October 14. The changes to the playing conditions took effect on October 1, and India and England will be using them for the first time in this series.

Teams will have to start the batting and bowling Powerplays at the beginning of any over between the 16th and the 36th over for a full game. Under the previous playing conditions, teams could begin the Powerplays from the start of the 11th over to the start of the 46th over.

"It's a bit tricky as we have not yet played any match under this new Powerplay," Dhoni told PTI. "It would certainly need a different approach as the second and third Powerplay will now be taken within the 16th and the 40th over.

"Earlier, while chasing, teams would be happy to keep the batting Powerplay for the last five overs. But now we have to make few changes in tactics. It will have different results till we get used to it."

The other major change to the playing conditions is the use of two new balls - one from either end - during an innings. The mandatory change of ball that took place at the end of the 34th over has been done away with. Dhoni said this amendment could reduce the amount of reverse swing because each ball will be only 25-overs-old.

"A bit of swing will definitely be there but there may not be as much reverse swing as we expect in the subcontinent," he said. "Now the reverse swing also depends a lot on the nature of outfield and how you make the ball, but of course legally."

The home ODIs against England are India's first international matches since the poor summer in England, where they lost the Test series 0-4 and the ODIs 0-3. It was primarily the inability of India's bowlers to contain that led to the defeats in the ODIs.

"During the tour of England, performance of the batsmen was impressive. Here we have a different bowling department and it's an opportunity for them to do well in home conditions," Dhoni said. "They have played a lot of IPL but this will be a different ball game.

"We have had a few youngsters who did well in England. Also the wickets were very different out there. For us what matters most is good performance in all three departments."