With Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s diminishing finishing abilities very much on the show during the second T20I against New Zealand on Saturday (November 4), former India batsman VVS Laxman feels his former teammate should either get promoted at number four or should make way for the youngsters in the shortest format of the game.
Dhoni walked into bat when India was reeling at 67 for four in the tenth over in pursuit of a daunting 197. But although the required-rate was pretty high, India would have surely hoped to give the Kiwis a stiff challenge, as Virat Kohli was going great guns from the other end.
However, Dhoni’s usual way of consuming too many balls early in the innings took the momentum off the chase, as the Men in Blue eventually lost the game by 40 runs.
The former India skipper managed just 17 runs off the first 20 balls he faced before launching Ish Sodhi for his first six. At a time, when the team needed more than ten runs per over, Dhoni batting with a strike-rate of less than 100 all but sealed the fate of the game in the visitors’ favour. The World Cup-winning skipper managed to get his strike-rate over 100 towards the end, scoring 49 off 37 but it was too late by then.
Dhoni’s latest knock has once again made everyone talk about whether he deserves a place in the T20I side, and the latest to give his views on the much-talked-about topic is VVS Laxman.
“In T20s, MS Dhoni’s role is at No 4. He requires more time to get his eye in and then do the job. But today [Saturday] was a classical example because when Virat Kohli was batting, Dhoni had to give the strike to Kohli. Kohli’s strike rate was 160, MS Dhoni’s strike rate was 80. That’s not good enough when India was chasing a mammoth total,” Laxman was quoted as saying by NDTV.com.
“I still feel it’s time for MS Dhoni to give youngsters a chance in T20 format. It will be an opportunity for a youngster to blossom and get confidence playing international cricket. He is definitely an integral part of ODI cricket,” he added.
Meanwhile, the three-match series is locked at one-all, and the decider will be played on Tuesday (November 7) in Thiruvananthapuram.
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