The knock against Afghanistan by Mahendra Singh Dhoni has once again given a chance for the criticisers to question him. He failed to give the final burst for the team on a wicket, where he batted for 52 balls. As usual, they came hard on MS Dhoni highlighting his strike rate by comparing to Virat Kohli, who knocked it with ease. Meanwhile, Bharat Arun sheds light on the issue.
The 37-year-old produced a slow 28-run knock from 52 deliveries. He was stumped off from Rashid Khan’s delivery. The dismissal happened in the 45th over. Also, his very slow inning partnering Kedhar Jadhav kept hurting the Run Rate of the innings.
MS Dhoni and Jadhav were part of a 57-run partnership for the fifth wicket but they also played out 84 balls between themselves. Dhoni made 24 off 36 in that partnership while Jadhav scored 31 off 48 balls which slowed down India’s proceedings in the middle overs.
MS Dhoni’s knock was the slowest innings over the score of 25 in this World Cup so far. His 28 runs were scored at a strike rate of 53.84. The second slowest innings in this World Cup above the score of 25 is David Warner’s 48-ball 26 vs Sri Lanka.
No one should be compared to Virat Kohli – Bharat Arun on MS Dhoni
Speaking of the same, the bowling coach Bharat Arun quoted that comparing any batsman to the world number one batsman Virat Kohli isn’t right. He feels that there is room for improvement to any cricketer.
”I think Virat Kohli is probably the number one batsman across all formats. So I think to compare anybody to the way he plays is not right,” Bharat Arun said at the media interaction.
I don’t think it is a concern –
Further, he went on to add saying that the wicketkeeper-batsman has played according to the situation of the game. He feels that India would have been in a tough situation if one between Kedar Jadhav and MS Dhoni walked back early.
“I think according to the situation and the condition of the wicket, we were able to successfully defend the total that we put up. And had we probably lost a wicket at that stage (when Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav were batting), then things would have turned out differently. So I don’t think it’s too much of a concern for us right now,” Arun asserted.
However, India managed to pip Afghanistan by 11 runs, thanks to some tight bowling, including Mohammed Shami’s maiden World Cup 2019 hat-trick. Having remained unbeaten so far, India, who have 9 points from 5 matches, take on the West Indies at Old Trafford on June 27.