Ahead of the fifth ODI against Windies, India bowling coach Bharat Arun leapt in defence of under-performing MS Dhoni.
With every passing game, the pressure on MS Dhoni is further piling up and the veteran batsman is doing very little with the bat to ease it off himself. Right from the England tour till his last innings with the bat, Dhoni has not played a single innings to make an impression. In England, he did make some handy runs but was widely criticised for his slow strike-rate.
Things did not change much in Asia Cup either and they have not looked any better in the ongoing series against Windies.
With 252 runs from 18 matches, Dhoni is averaging 25.20 in 2018 in ODIs – his worst year in terms of batting average. It is the only the second time when his average has come below 40.00. One of India’s only five players to have scored 10,000 runs in ODIs, Dhoni has not scored a single half century till now.
Hailed as one of the finest finishers of all time, the 37-year old has the worst strike rate among wicket-keepers in international cricket for 2018. In the 12 innings he has played in 2018, the former Indian skipper has scored runs with a strike rate of 68.10 – worst in his career. With form not on his side, Dhoni has also struggled to hit boundaries. He has taken 19.47 balls to hit a boundary this year – his worst balls/boundary rate in the career and he has scored just two sixes in 2018 in ODIs – lowest in his career.
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But despite things not looking good for the World Cup-winning star, Bharat Arun defended him and feels that the veteran will do good if provided with opportunities.
“His (Dhoni’s) striking ability is for everyone to see. He has done it many a times before. He is extremely experienced and I’m sure given the opportunities, he will come good,” Arun said ahead of the fifth ODI.
Arun further lavished praise on the team’s pace battery. Opening up on the team management’s plan, he said that the team wanted to create a strong bench strength to rotate the bowlers.
“When we started off, the onus was not only on creating a force to reckon with pace bowling unit for the Indian team we also we needed a very good bench strength. To sustain fast bowling over a long period of time, you need to rotate these fast bowlers,” he said.
“India plays at least 60% more cricket than the rest of the world, and the workload has to be managed. We have a very good fast bowling quartet. And also, the bench strength is very exciting. Khaleel looks a very exciting prospect. He is sharp and has the skills to do well in international cricket,” he added.
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India, meanwhile, will be looking to wrap up the series 3-1 when they take on Windies in the last ODI on Thursday (November 1).