Birmingham: A lot has been made of Mahendra Singh Dhoni's failure to take India home against England. The situation was tailor-made for a Dhoni classic as India needed 104 runs from the last 10 overs. But it wasn't to be as the former skipper finished with an unbeaten 31-ball 42 as the Men in Blue lost by 31 runs.
Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly, who was perched in the commentary box, questioned the batting approach. “I can’t explain these singles. It is about mind set and the way you look at the game. The message had to be clear: no matter where it comes and no matter where the ball lands you have to find the boundary,” he said.
After the departure of Rishabh Pant (32) and Hardik Pandya (45), India needed 71 runs from the last five overs. All eyes were on Dhoni, known to be one of the best finishers of the game, and Kedar but they couldn’t pull it off.
Despite the criticism, Virat Kohli was steadfast in his defence of Dhoni and said the wicket got slower towards the end of the game which made big shots quite difficult.
“I think MS was trying really hard to get the boundary but it wasn’t coming off. They bowled in good areas and the ball was stopping, hence it was difficult to bat towards the end,” said Kohli after the game.
Dhoni scored four boundaries in his innings before hitting India’s only six in the penultimate over. But with the asking rate shooting to 15, the Indian duo opted for singles and doubles instead of playing big shots.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain was severe in his criticism and felt the fans would have been disappointed seeing India’s approach which seemed passive towards the end of the innings.
“I am completely baffled. What’s going on! This is not what India needed. They need runs. What are they doing? Some Indian fans are leaving now. Surely they must want to see Dhoni go for his shots, even if he slogs it off in the air,” Hussain said while commentating during India’s chase.
“It’s a World Cup game, top two sides, give it a go! Indian fans would want their side to do a little bit more. They want their side to go down with a fight. Risk it to win it,” he added.
But there are some like former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar who feel that it is time that the Indian team management looked beyond Dhoni to win games in crunch situations."The likes of K.L. Rahul should also be asked as to why he is getting out after getting a start and not finishing with big scores,’’ he added.
ANOTHER INJURY: Another injury has struck Team India as Vijay Shankar has been ruled out of the World Cup with a toe injury and Mayank Agarwal is being flown in as a replacement.
— Input: IANS/PTI