Dhoni’s intent was just like the 2011 World Cup Final, says Gavaskar
Jan 6, 2019 at 3:51 AM
India won the third ODI against New Zealand in Mohali. Virat Kohli once again played a marvellous innings and showed his temperament , playing 154 not out to help India to 2-1 lead in the 5-match series. Not only Virat, MS Dhoni also got his form back and played a innings of 80 runs.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar praised the Indian skipper MS Dhoni. Gavaskar felt that Dhoni has done just like he did during the 2011 World Cup final. “Yes. The intent was there, just like in the finals. Knowing that Murali was bowling and that he picked him well since they played for the same IPL franchise at the time, so he had got used to his style of bowling. He took the responsibility upon him and eventually proved that move was right,” Gavaskar told.
If NewZealand won the match, India would be on the verge of the series. They have to win the next match to keep their presence in the series. Gavaskar feels Dhoni took the right decision and came up in the batting order and the changes which he made in the middle order.
“Today too he realised that India could not afford to lose to New Zealand because it would have been very tough to come back. He knew that his experience was what was needed out in the middle. Manish Pandey is a very fine player, make no mistake about it. I think he, Kedar Jadhav are some of India’s fine young players. But think he realised that Manish can get carried away at that stage and if another wicket falls, then there could a little bit of tension,” he said.
The 68-year-old Gavaskar also appreciated Virat Kohli for his innings. “What pleases everybody and particularly me is that there are no crude shots that he plays in the run-chase. You see him play all cricketing shots. There is no crude slogging, no shots that would make a purist cringe. I think that is the beauty about his batting,” Gavaskar told.