India’s exit in the 2019 World Cup last year was one of the painful memories to every Indian cricket fan. New Zealand got the better of India by 18 runs in the World Cup 2019 semi-final at Old Trafford in Manchester.
Meanwhile, England all-rounder Ben Stokes recalled his team’s battle against India in the 2019 World Cup where the hosts defeated Virat Kohli’s men by 31 runs. India’s tedious approach in the massive 338-run chase took the all-rounder Ben Stokes by surprise. Stokes felt that India lacked the killer instinct during the run-chase.
England and India locked horns with each other in the 38th match of the ICC World Cup 2019 at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham. There were a lot of expectations about the game, but it eventually turned out to be a one-sided affair as England beat India by 31 runs.
Ben Stokes questions MS Dhoni’s intent:
Ben Stokes went on to question MS Dhoni’s intent in India’s run-chase and also termed Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s batting as “mystifying”. In his book On Fire, Stokes analysed each of England’s game in their World Cup-winning campaign.
Recalling the India match, Ben Stokes wrote how he saw no intent from MS Dhoni or his partner Kedar Jadhav towards the fag end of the run-chase. Both the right-handed batsmen, MS Dhoni and Jadhav, remained unbeaten of 42 and 12 runs as they decided against going all-out in the run-chase despite having wickets in hands.
“Arguably, the way MS Dhoni played when he came in with 112 runs needed from 11 overs was even stranger. He appeared more intent on singles than sixes. Even with a dozen balls remaining, India could still have won. There was little or no intent from him (Dhoni) or his partner Kedar Jadhav. To me, while victory is still possible you always go for broke,” Ben Stokes wrote in his book On Fire.
Ben Stokes also added that India had a pretty good chance to win the match. The Men in Blue lacked the collective rhythm during the run-chase.