Piyush Chawla, who is a leg spinner has remembered an instance which narrated the genius move from recently-retired MS Dhoni as he revealed how the former skipper plotted England’s Jonathan Trott’s dismissal during India’s 2011 World Cup match where England was cruising at 111 for one.
MS Dhoni retired from all international formats on Independence Day in 2020 bringing down curtains on an illustrious career spanning 16 years where he won both T20I and ODI World Cup respectively in 2007 and 2011.
India who were the eventual champions of the 2011 World Cup with brilliant batting performances by legendary players like Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, and bowling performances of Zaheer Khan, and Harbhajan Singh. India defeated Australia in Quarter Final, Pakistan in Semi-Final, and Sri Lanka in the Final to lift the coveted trophy in 2011 for the second time after a hiatus of 28 years.
Piyush Chawla: Field Replacement Helped India To Break Partnership
The duo of Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott had added 43 runs for the second wicket as England chased 339 to win against India. MS Dhoni decided to operate with spinners from both ends and Piyush Chawla and Harbhajan Singh bowled in tandem. A change in field replacement helped India to break the threatening partnership.
“I was having a 45 [short fine-leg] for Trott,” Chawla told Wisden India. “He [Dhoni] told me to move that [fielder] from there and get it to square-leg. I said, ‘I don’t need that’. He said, ‘No, just do that and bowl.’ And I got a square-leg instead of 45, and two balls later, he got out because he tried to play too fine.”
Jonathan Trott was especially in form as he scored 62 against the Netherlands in the previous game, but the ploy worked as he was out LBW trying to work the ball towards the position from where the fielder was removed. He was dismissed for a 19-ball 16 after which MS Dhoni enacted the shot and said that it was to show him the gap so that he played it fine.
“He told me he wasn’t keeping that square-leg to stop anything. It was just to show him [Trott] that gap so he tries to play it fine, and he ends up getting lbw,” said Chawla.
India, however, could not bear Andrew Strauss’s onslaught whose 158 helped England to tie the match against India. The match was the penultimate tied match in World Cup history and was followed by England and New Zealand final in the 2019 World Cup which was undoubtedly the best match ever played in history.
Piyush Chawla And MS Dhoni Will Perform Together For CSK In IPL
Piyush Chawla and MS Dhoni will have more opportunities as the duo will play together for Chennai Super Kings in IPL in UAE starting September 19 after being postponed from March 29 due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
MS Dhoni retired from international cricket and CSK teammate Suresh Raina followed him in retirement but both of them will play for CSK in IPL. Piyush Chawla who represented India in 3 tests and 25 ODIs was with Kolkata Knight Riders from 2014 to 2019 but was picked up by CSK ahead of the 2020 IPL.