MS Dhoni said that India losing the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup to New Zealand was a heart-break moment for him. This was also the last time MS Dhoni played for India in international cricket and his final outing ended in a run out.
New Zealand batted first and scored 239/8, with Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor earning 50s. The match was disrupted by rain, as India batted on the reserve day in cloudy conditions in the pursuit. New Zealand’s pacers reduced India to 92/6 after 30 overs. However, Ravindra Jadeja (77) and MS Dhoni (50) did their best to lead India to an unlikely victory.
Despite needing 31 runs off the last 12 balls, India still had the ‘greatest finisher in the world’ at the crease and was hopeful of winning.
Lockie Ferguson bowled the match’s penultimate over, and Dhoni hammered the first ball for a six-over deep backward point. The second delivery was a dot ball.
Millions of Indian fans’ hearts skipped a beat when, unfortunately, a player like MS Dhoni who is so good between the wickets was run out in what turned out to be his final one-day international. Ferguson bowled a slower ball on a length that flew up off the glove and into a short fine leg as Dhoni constricted on the pull.
Dhoni ran for two with Bhuvneshwar Kumar at the other end, but there was a tiny stutter on the second run, which cost him as he was just short of a direct hit at the keeper’s end from Martin Guptill. Dhoni was run out after scoring 50 runs off 72 balls, and India lost by 18 runs, eliminating them from the World Cup.
“Time thoda lagta hai”- MS Dhoni on getting over the heartbreak of India’s loss in the 2019 World Cup semis
In a video that has gone viral on social media, a fan asks Dhoni how he coped with the sorrow of losing such a close semifinal game. The former captain responded, noting that it was a heartbreaking time for him because it was his final World Cup.
“It was a difficult one because I knew that this will be my last World Cup, so it would have been good to be on the winning side. It was heartbreak moment, so we accepted the result and we tried to move on. Time thoda lagta hai aur World Cup ke baad thoda time mil bhi jata hai. Maine toh uske baad international khela nahi hai toh mujhe toh kaafi time mila hai. (It takes time and one gets some time after the World Cup. I haven’t played any international after that, so I got a lot of time). So, yes, it was a heartbreak but at the same time you have to get out of it. So you just accept that you tried your best, but you were not able to win it,” Dhoni replied.
MS Dhoni On 2019 World Cup Semi Final#MSDhoni pic.twitter.com/HAiXWBivef
— Chakri Dhoni (@ChakriDhonii) July 31, 2024