Indian fans blamed Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the loss of the match against England by 31 odd runs at Edgbaston. After losing Hardik Pandya in the 45th over, India still required 71 runs in final 5 overs. Fans were expecting Dhoni to show some positive intent to hit the ball out of park, but he was busy taking singles alongside Kedar Jadhav which disappointed fans.
After the last match against Afghanistan, Sachin Tendulkar expressed disappointment against middle order batsmen, including Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav for their lack of positive intent.
This time, Dhoni’s batting approach was questioned by the likes of former skipper Sourav Ganguly.
“I don’t have an explanation for that. You asked me the question but I can’t explain these singles. It’s also the length and the bounce that has deceived the Indian batsmen. You can’t be chasing 338 and still have five wickets in the end.
“It’s about mindset 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,” said Ganguly while commentating during the last 10 overs of India’s chase.
Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar also termed Dhoni’s batting approach as “baffling.”
In the presentation ceremony when Sanjay Manjrekar questioned Virat Kohli about the same, he defended the team by saying, “It was upto the discussions with the two guys who were in there (about the way India batted towards the end). I think MS (Dhoni) 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. We have to sit and assess and improve on things in the next game.”
Featured image source: ICC/Twitter.