Coming in to bat at number 4 at Mohali in the third ODI, Indian skipper MS Dhoni proved his critics wrong yet again as he played a solid innings of 80. It came at a batting position where he didn’t bat too frequently and post India’s win, he admitted that he would love to bat at that spot. However, Dhoni was back in his poor state of form, as he struggled to time every possible delivery at Ranchi.
After India failed to chase the target set by New Zealand, questions were once again raised over Dhoni’s abilities. Surely, Dhoni’s knock of 11 off 31 deliveries sucked the momentum and worsened the situation for India. Post the loss, the Indian skipper opened up about his own batting and the middle order.
However, during the conference, Dhoni was asked an interesting question, that if wicket keeping was adversely affecting his batting. To this, captain cool had an interesting response, as he said, “Who’ll field for me? I’m not a good enough fielder without the gloves.”
Speaking about India’s inexperienced middle order, Dhoni said, “It’s important they get games like these and finally they’ll figure out a way what suits them best to chase down a total like this,” he said. “Unless they get an opportunity like this it will be very difficult because that’s how you get experience. You can learn a lot by watching but ultimately when you feel the pressure and go through that motion, that’s where you learn a lot. It will be a good learning curve for them. Give them some time.”
“Cricket has changed, people like to play big shots. It is important to not tell them to stop playing the shots; you don’t want them to go into their shells,” Dhoni added. “They played their shots when the ball was in their area. The Nos. 5 and 6 are quite new, they will learn their own way. Some will play big shots, some will take it deep. Once they have played 15-20 games, they will figure out what works for them.”