Kohli defends Dhoni’s Lord’s grind

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.