Post India’s heart-breaking loss to New Zealand in the semi-finals of the World Cup, skipper Virat Kohli said that MS Dhoni is yet to take a call on his future. Dhoni, the veteran batter, hit a fifty and took India close to the target before getting run-out by Martin Guptill. He along with Ravindra Jadeja steadied the Indian ship after the top-order went down packing.
India were bundled out while chasing a modest target
India restricted the Kiwis to 239/8 after sending in to field by skipper Kane Williamson. Ross Taylor hit a vital 74 while Williamson made 67. Chasing a modest target of 240, India lost the wickets of in-form Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and captain Kohli early. The side did recover, courtesy a solid stand between Jadeja and Dhoni. Jadeja was caught while trying to clear the fence as he departed for 77. The loss has sent India out of the World Cup as New Zealand advanced to the finals.
Kohli on Dhoni hanging his boots
There were a lot of talks over Dhoni’s retirement as the man himself took a cheeky dig at the reports stating that many wanted him to retire post the group stage game against Sri Lanka. At the post-match conference, Kohli was asked if a decision has been made, he stated, “Dhoni hasn’t told us anything yet.”
At 38, Dhoni isn’t getting any younger but the World T20 next year would tempt him to play active cricket for one more year. In all likeliness this was his last World Cup, having led India to victory in 2011. He has so far played 350 ODIs, scoring 10,773 runs at an average of 50.57. The batter has hit 10 hundreds and 73 fifties and has a record 123 stumpings against his name. This was his second fifty of the tournament after hitting a match-winning 56* against the Windies.The former skipper started the campaign with a gritty hundred against Bangladesh in the warm-up match.