Batting first or second,
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
has made it a habit of batting
right up to the 45th
over and beyond to ensure
India either chase down a
target or post a score that
is at least competitive.
In the 185 innings Dhoni
has batted at number five
and below for India, he has
been not out on 55 occasions
— that is close to
30%, or nearly once every
three innings. It is a phenomenal
piece of statistic,
one that proves his status
as a master finisher in the
One-day format.
But over the past year,
there have been situations
in which the ever so composed
Dhoni has managed
to get out in situations that
he had excelled at throughout
his career. Not surprisingly
most of these innings
have come abroad.
Since December 2013, in
the matches he has played
in, India have lost 10 and
won only five. In 14
innings Dhoni has batted
in that period, he has
remained unbeaten only
twice, one of these
instances coming in India.
In New Zealand last year,
he had failed to finish off
chases in Hamilton, Auckland
and Napier despite
scoring over 40 runs in
each of those innings.
To give the benefit of the
doubt to Dhoni, on each of
these instances, the asking
rate had climbed to
over eight an over when
India were more than 100
runs short of the target.
But these are situations
Dhoni has excelled in,
managing to get India
across the line, helped by
small contributions from
the lower order. So Dhoni
failing in a role he’d
excelled in over the last
one year is a worrying
sign.
Last September, in a T20I
against England in Birmingham,
Dhoni took the
match right into his most
comfortable zone – into the
last over, India needing 17
to win. Dhoni blasted Chris
Woakes for a six first ball
and a four off the fourth,
and India needed five off
two balls. He could manage
only one off two, and
India lost by three runs.
Dhoni came up short,
which had not happened
too often in the past.
Perhaps the inability to
chase targets in overseas
conditions resulted in
India batting first in the
current tri-series. But in
the opening two matches,
the timing of Dhoni’s dismissals
was once again
almost difficult to believe,
given the man is such a
perfectionist.
In the first ODI in the
current series, he reached
19 of 31 balls in the 44th
over, and over the next
overs, it was expected that
he would take off. But he
was bowled dabbing at a
ball. In the second ODI
against England, he had
added 60 runs with Stuart
Binny to take India to
137/5 in the 37th over, and
we all expected him to
guide India to 250. But he
fell short once again.
Dhoni’s inability to
reprise his lower-order
heroics of the past is a
worrying sign. With the
World Cup fast approaching,
it is important for
India’s best-ever One-day
finisher to recover his finishing
touch.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
has made it a habit of batting
right up to the 45th
over and beyond to ensure
India either chase down a
target or post a score that
is at least competitive.
In the 185 innings Dhoni
has batted at number five
and below for India, he has
been not out on 55 occasions
— that is close to
30%, or nearly once every
three innings. It is a phenomenal
piece of statistic,
one that proves his status
as a master finisher in the
One-day format.
But over the past year,
there have been situations
in which the ever so composed
Dhoni has managed
to get out in situations that
he had excelled at throughout
his career. Not surprisingly
most of these innings
have come abroad.
Since December 2013, in
the matches he has played
in, India have lost 10 and
won only five. In 14
innings Dhoni has batted
in that period, he has
remained unbeaten only
twice, one of these
instances coming in India.
In New Zealand last year,
he had failed to finish off
chases in Hamilton, Auckland
and Napier despite
scoring over 40 runs in
each of those innings.
To give the benefit of the
doubt to Dhoni, on each of
these instances, the asking
rate had climbed to
over eight an over when
India were more than 100
runs short of the target.
But these are situations
Dhoni has excelled in,
managing to get India
across the line, helped by
small contributions from
the lower order. So Dhoni
failing in a role he’d
excelled in over the last
one year is a worrying
sign.
Last September, in a T20I
against England in Birmingham,
Dhoni took the
match right into his most
comfortable zone – into the
last over, India needing 17
to win. Dhoni blasted Chris
Woakes for a six first ball
and a four off the fourth,
and India needed five off
two balls. He could manage
only one off two, and
India lost by three runs.
Dhoni came up short,
which had not happened
too often in the past.
Perhaps the inability to
chase targets in overseas
conditions resulted in
India batting first in the
current tri-series. But in
the opening two matches,
the timing of Dhoni’s dismissals
was once again
almost difficult to believe,
given the man is such a
perfectionist.
In the first ODI in the
current series, he reached
19 of 31 balls in the 44th
over, and over the next
overs, it was expected that
he would take off. But he
was bowled dabbing at a
ball. In the second ODI
against England, he had
added 60 runs with Stuart
Binny to take India to
137/5 in the 37th over, and
we all expected him to
guide India to 250. But he
fell short once again.
Dhoni’s inability to
reprise his lower-order
heroics of the past is a
worrying sign. With the
World Cup fast approaching,
it is important for
India’s best-ever One-day
finisher to recover his finishing
touch.
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