London: On a day when Mahendra Singh Dhoni crossed the 10,000-run milestone in ODIs, he was booed by the Indian supporters at the ‘Home of Cricket’ for his slow batting during the team’s 86-run defeat against England in the second game of the three-match series.
Dhoni was widely criticised for not showing initiative in his 59-ball 37 as India could only manage 236 in 50 overs after England posted 322 for seven. While England’s Joe Root found it ‘surprising’, India’s Yuzvendra Chahal said that he was unaware about the booing incident.
Before the start of the 46th over, the match was as good as over with 110 required off 30 balls. However the crowd got restless when Dhoni failed to score off the first four balls of David Willey’s over. There was booing after every dot ball, a rare occurrence considering the huge fan base Dhoni enjoys around the cricketing globe.
In fact at the end of the over, substitute fielders Shardul Thakur and Axar Patel came in with an energy drink and replacement bat, which on air commentators termed as a message to push things. Off the very first ball in the next over, Dhoni was caught at the deep mid-wicket boundary, trying a wild heave.
Chahal, who came for the post-match press conference, however denied it. “There was no message from the dressing room for Dhoni to accelerate,” he stated.
While it didn’t concern the English team, Root did find it a bit surprising. “Yes it was surprising, but ultimately it doesn’t really concern us,” Root said.
Kohli bats for MSD
London: Skipper Virat Kohli had to once again come to the rescue of under-fire former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whose slow knock came in for sharp criticism at the Lord’s. Hailed as one of the best ever finishers in limited overs, Dhoni in the past couple of years have struggled to finish a lot of high pressure games unless there has been top-order support from the other end. “This thing comes up again and again when he’s not able to play the way he does. It’s unfortunate that people jump to conclusions quickly. When he does well, people call him the best finisher ever, and when things do not go well, people pounce on him,” Kohli defended Dhoni.