Video: Umpire teaching MS Dhoni how to play bouncers
Jul 1, 2016 at 10:24 PM
When it comes to technique, India’s limited overs’ captain MS Dhoni is not very pleasing to the eyes. The batting style of Mahendra Singh Dhoni is absolutely unique. However, his unorthodox methods of lambasting the bowlers has been highly effective. Dhoni is so prodigiously gifted that he is able to get away with the most enthralling of shots that at once has the spectators leaping with joy and leaving bowlers tearing away at their hair. Dhoni revels in playing the most outrageous of strokes. He plays the paddle sweep with impunity, dispatches balls pitched outside the off stump to the midwicket boundary and makes nonsense of field placings, cricketing theories, and captains’ strategies.
The most successful captain of India has made up his lack of technique with his sheer mental strength. One such instance of his mental strength was witnessed when India was playing against Australia in Brisbane in 2014.
Australian pacers Jose Hazlewood and Mitchell Johnson were spitting fire. Dhoni received a hostile welcome from the Aussie bowlers. But what followed after was totally baffling. The Indian captain playing his last Test series, refused to duck to the bouncers and took blow after blow on his biceps and backs. At last the on-field umpire, Marais Erasmus had to intervene to advice Dhoni to duck down.
Enjoy the video:
https://youtu.be/PJRQY9FvfAQ
Coming to the match, Australia won the match by 4 wickets. India batted brilliantly in the first innings and scored 408 runs. Murali Vijay was India’s top scorer with 144 runs. In reply Australia scored 505 runs, taking a lead of 97 runs. India’s batsmen failed to replicate their first innings heroics and were dismissed for 224 runs, setting Australia an easy target of 128 runs. Australia started poorly but a half-century from opener Chris Rogers was enough to take Australia home.