Notably, MS Dhoni scored 28 runs off 52 balls at a strike rate of 53.85 against Afghanistan. Though Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah’s heroics won India the game by a narrow margin of 11 runs, Dhoni once again came under scrutiny for his slow scoring.
India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni (R) is watched by Afghanistan's Ikram Ali Khil as he plays a shot during the 2019 Cricket World Cup group stage match between India and Afghanistan at the Rose Bowl in Southampton, southern England, on June 22, 2019. (Photo: SAEED KHAN/AFP)
Former India batsman Sachin Tendulkar was not happy with MS Dhoni’s batting against Afghanistan on Saturday and urged former India captain to bat with more intent in the future games.
“MS Dhoni is a senior player and should show positive intent. Afghanistan’s bowling is good but you can’t score only 119 runs in 34 overs. He did not show any positive intent against Afghanistan,” Tendulkar said while talking to India Today after the match.
Notably, MS Dhoni scored 28 runs off 52 balls at a strike rate of 53.85 against Afghanistan. Though Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah’s heroics won India the game by a narrow margin of 11 runs, Dhoni once again came under scrutiny for his slow scoring.
Advertisement
Talking about Dhoni’s ability to rotate the strike, the 46-year-old Master Blaster said, “MS Dhoni has the ability to hit but yesterday (22 June) his strike rotation was not good. He faced too many dot balls and this hampered a strong finish for India. The intent could have been much better by the middle order batsmen.
“I believe MS Dhoni needs to up his ante when it comes to strike rotation in next matches,” added Tendulkar.
Tendulkar also pointed out that the 57-run partnership for the fifth wicket between MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav was just too slow and batting in the middle overs needs to improve.
“I felt slightly disappointed, it could have been much better. I was also not happy with the partnership between Kedar and Dhoni, it was very slow. This was one area where we didn’t look comfortable at all. There was no positive intent.
“There were more than 2-3 dot balls. After Virat got out in the 38th over and till the 45th over we hadn’t scored many runs. There were not enough outings for the middle order batsmen till now and that put pressure on them. But the intent could have been much better by the middle order batsmen,” Tendulkar said.
Advertisement
