LONDON: India captain Virat Kohli said it was wrong for pundits to “pounce” on MS Dhoni and “jump to conclusions” following the former skipper’s bizarre innings in the second One-Day International against England at Lord’s.
The tourists were 140 for four, needing a further 183 runs in 23 overs to reach their target of 323, when Dhoni walked out to bat at the home of cricket.
It was a situation that cried out for some belligerent batting from the often aggressive Dhoni, one of the best finishers of a white-ball innings in the modern game.
Yet instead, Dhoni made a sedate 37 off 59 balls with just two fours.
When he eventually holed out off Liam Plunkett with a rare lofted shot, India were effectively beaten at 215 for eight with just under four overs remaining.
India were bowled out for 236 off the last ball of the match as England won by 86 runs to level the three-match series at 1-1 ahead of Tuesday’s finale at Headingley.
Dhoni’s innings may not have been quite as extraordinary as India great Sunil Gavaskar’s infamous ‘go-slow’ against England at Lord’s in the inaugural match of the first World Cup in 1975, when the celebrated opener carried his bat for 36 not out in a 60-over match his side lost by a mammoth 202 runs, but it was curious all the same.
Meanwhile former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh added: “Today was definitely a different Dhoni we got to see.
But Kohli defended the 37-year-old Dhoni, a veteran of 320 ODIs who effectively won the 2011 World Cup final for India against Sri Lanka in Mumbai off his own bat, by saying: “This comes up again and again when he is not able to play in the normal way he does.
Score Board
TOSS: ENGLAND
ENGLAND INNINGS
Roy c Umesh b Kuldeep 40
Bairstow b Kuldeep 38
Root run out 113
Morgan c Dhawan b Kuldeep 53
Stokes c Dhoni b Pandya 5
Buttler c Dhoni b Umesh 4
Ali c Sharma b Chahal 13
Willey not out 50
Extras (LB-1, NB-2, W-3) 6
Total (7 wkts, 50 overs) 322
Fall of wickets: 1-69, 2-86, 3-189, 4-203, 5-214, 6-239, 7-322.
BOWLING: U Yadav 10-0-63-1 (1nb, 1w); Kaul 8-0-59-0; Pandya 10-0-70-1 (2w); Chahal 10-0-43-1 (1nb); K Yadav 10-0-68-3; Raina 2-0-18-0.
INDIA INNINGS
Sharma b Wood 15
Dhawan c Stokes b Willey 36
Kohli lbw b Ali 45
Rahul c Buttler b Plunkett 0
Raina b Rashid 46
Dhoni c Stokes b Plunkett 37
Pandya c Buttler b Plunkett 21
Yadav st Buttler b Rashid 0
Yadav not out 8
Kaul lbw b Plunkett 1
Chahal c Stokes b Willey 12
Extras (LB-2, W-13) 15
Total (all out, 50 overs) 236
Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-57, 3-60, 4-140, 5-154, 6-191, 7-192, 8-215, 9-217, 10-236.
BOWLING: Wood 5-0-31-1 (1w); Willey 10-0-48-2 (5w); Plunkett 10-1-46-4 (3w); Stokes 5-0-29-0; Ali 10-0-42-1; Rashid 10-0-38-2.