Sourav Ganguly backs MS Dhoni to succeed at number 4
Oct 25, 2016 at 9:26 AM
The victory against New Zealand at Mohali was reassuring for India not just for one reason alone. There were several reasons to be content with, mainly the class displayed by Virat Kohli, who registered his 26 ODI ton. But the biggest positive which emerged for India, was the knock played by skipper MS Dhoni. Dhoni came in at number 4, at a position where he averages in excess of 60. He entered the arena, when India had lost both their openers and were in a spot of bother.
From there on, Dhoni played a calculated knock as his 80 drove India along quite comfortably. For a certain point in his innings, Dhoni even outscored Kohli. Speaking to India Today, former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly backed Dhoni’s move to bat at number 4 and said that the Jharkhand dasher would be at his best at that position.
“It is a simple theory, ODI cricket is not rocket science. The best batsmen in your team need to play the maximum deliveries to put pressure on the opposition,” said Ganguly. “I hope Dhoni continues to bat at No.4 but I don’t know if he will continue to do that. I hope Anil Kumble speaks to Dhoni and tells him to stick to number 4 because it makes life easier for him and it makes life easier for people coming down the order.”
Ganguly went on to say that Dhoni was just under utilizing his skills by batting lower down the order. “He has not got an ODI hundred in 3 years and the reason is that he just bats 40 or 50 balls in an ODI match. He not only undermines his talent but also undermines the team’s capacity of winning games.”
The Price of Calcutta also added that Dhoni could be a finisher even if he batted at number 4. “He keeps talking about finishing games but he finished the game in Mohali as well, maybe India were a few runs behind when he got out but he had played so well at number 4 that when Manish Pandey came in and Virat was at the other end the game was over. It is good for him because he is getting towards the later end of his career, I don’t know how long will he play, but it is important for him to come in this position and keep performing all the time,” Ganguly was quoted saying.