Mahendra Singh Dhoni was in his zone during the third one-day game against West Indies at Antigua. India won the match by 93 runs with Mahendra Singh Dhoni picking yet another man-of-the-match award for his splendid knock of 78 runs in 79 balls.
However, Dhoni was facing severe criticism of late for his batting slump and inconsistent showing. But his recent knock clearly states that he lets his bat do the talking most often than not. When quizzed about how his batting is getting better with age, Dhoni gave yet another mischievous reply: ‘It’s like wine’.
Dhoni was happy that he got a chance to play a quality innings despite the top three batsmen scoring most of the runs in the recent past. “Our top-order has been doing the bulk of the scoring in the last one-one and a half years, so it felt good to get an opportunity and score runs,” said Dhoni.
However, he added that the knock was special due to the nature of the wicket as well. “I think it was the nature of the wicket (what made the knock special). There was variable bounce and at times the pace. It was important to have a partnership at that stage. In my mind, I had 250, and we got there, with Kedar batting with me at the end. It was something the bowlers could defend, but they had to bowl well.”
Known for having one of the sharpest cricketing brains, even behind the stumps, he kept giving inputs to the spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin. “It’s important (to guide spinners). Kuldeep has played a lot of games in IPL but when it comes to international cricket, it’s important to know where to use your variety. Once he plays 5-10 games, he will realise it himself. The good thing is, compared to the last game, he bowled very well today.
Skipper Virat Kohli also praised Dhoni and said that he stepped up when the team needed him.
“When we needed the runs, MS again finished the innings along with Kedar. Ajinkya batted well and Yuvi’s 40-odd (39) were really important runs. MS at the end along with Kedar finished it really well. We thought 250 was a very competitive total,” said Kohli.
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