Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni blasted his batsmen for "playing to the gallery rather than for the country" after the home team slumped to a three-wicket defeat at the hands of South Africa in a thrilling World Cup Group B encounter. India suffered a stunning batting collapse on Saturday as they lost nine wickets for only 29 runs to crumble to 296 all out in 48.4 overs after being 267/1 in the 40th over. "When you try to hit those big shots, you tend to forget that you are playing for the country and not for the crowd. In the process of trying to get those 20 extra runs, you end up scoring 40 runs less," Dhoni told reporters at the post-match press conference. "Some were playing to the gallery rather than for the country," he said curtly, when asked about the assessment of Saturday's performance. India lost four wickets, including those of Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir (69) for 30 runs during the batting powerplay which eventually restricted their total to 296 in 48.4 overs. "Spectators love to see fours and sixes, but when you lose two-three wickets, you need to change your approach. When you have 270-280 runs on the board, batsmen want to play big shots," said Dhoni. "You need to curb your thinking. Different people have different roles and responsibilities." India's dramatic collapse was triggered by South African paceman Dale Steyn in a man-of-the-match performance of 5-50. South Africa achieved their 297-run target with two balls to spare.
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