Most of us (myself certainly), thought that Dhoni's playing days were about over! That it was possibly better not to make Dhoni part of ODI/ T20 teams and instead give other players a chance (maybe, make KL Rahul keep wickets if you couldn't find a good wicketkeeper-batsman). Not out of any malice towards Dhoni; it's just that of late Dhoni seemed to be losing his touch, unable to finish matches.
But yesterday showed us Dhoni in a new avatar. A finisher indeed - but who ensured that he stayed around and encouraged others to finish the job, who acted as a player and a coach at the same time, who got a no. 9 batsman to reach his first half century in 69 matches!
The second India vs Sri Lanka ODI (Micromax Cup 2017) began on a very familiar note - SL batting well, then losing the plot and then being saved by some sensible batting by no.6 and 7! 236 as a total never looked enough - India were set 231 in 47 overs (Duckworth Lewis) and reached 109 for no loss in some 15 overs! It looked like India would finish this match too in 30 overs. Then both openers got our quickly - India rejigged the batting order to give other batsmen a chance!
But then - something surprising! A bowler out of nowhere took 6 wickets to leave India at 131/7 - 7 wickets lost for 22 runs!! Akila Dananjaya , coming to play a match the day after his wedding, took 6 wickets! The best part? He got 3 of the batsmen - including Kohli, bowled to googlies. It sort of reminded me of Kumble where he would spin but then trick batsmen with straight balls and get wickets.
So, at 131/7 - India looked like losing the match by a huge margin. After all, there were 100 runs to get in around 25 overs. Not too many runs needed, but hardly any wickets in hand! Dhoni only had the bowlers for company ! And Dhoni wasn't even batting as well as usual. But hey - we got to see Dhoni in a new avatar - he rotated strike, took singles and didn't allow Bhuvaneshwar Kumar to play a rash shot - even when Bhuvi played 17 continuous dot balls! Surprisingly, Dhoni didn't even hit boundaries later (he hit one overall) - instead he let Bhuvi do all the hitting to reach his maiden half century.
SL were unlucky to lose - but a master showed their batsmen how to keep calm when things are not going your way. SL re-discovered a bowler and India realized that their batting line-up runs deeper than they thought! So, all in all, not a bad day for cricket!
But yesterday showed us Dhoni in a new avatar. A finisher indeed - but who ensured that he stayed around and encouraged others to finish the job, who acted as a player and a coach at the same time, who got a no. 9 batsman to reach his first half century in 69 matches!
The second India vs Sri Lanka ODI (Micromax Cup 2017) began on a very familiar note - SL batting well, then losing the plot and then being saved by some sensible batting by no.6 and 7! 236 as a total never looked enough - India were set 231 in 47 overs (Duckworth Lewis) and reached 109 for no loss in some 15 overs! It looked like India would finish this match too in 30 overs. Then both openers got our quickly - India rejigged the batting order to give other batsmen a chance!
But then - something surprising! A bowler out of nowhere took 6 wickets to leave India at 131/7 - 7 wickets lost for 22 runs!! Akila Dananjaya , coming to play a match the day after his wedding, took 6 wickets! The best part? He got 3 of the batsmen - including Kohli, bowled to googlies. It sort of reminded me of Kumble where he would spin but then trick batsmen with straight balls and get wickets.
So, at 131/7 - India looked like losing the match by a huge margin. After all, there were 100 runs to get in around 25 overs. Not too many runs needed, but hardly any wickets in hand! Dhoni only had the bowlers for company ! And Dhoni wasn't even batting as well as usual. But hey - we got to see Dhoni in a new avatar - he rotated strike, took singles and didn't allow Bhuvaneshwar Kumar to play a rash shot - even when Bhuvi played 17 continuous dot balls! Surprisingly, Dhoni didn't even hit boundaries later (he hit one overall) - instead he let Bhuvi do all the hitting to reach his maiden half century.
SL were unlucky to lose - but a master showed their batsmen how to keep calm when things are not going your way. SL re-discovered a bowler and India realized that their batting line-up runs deeper than they thought! So, all in all, not a bad day for cricket!
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