With critics breathing down his throat and even the chief national selector — MSK Prasad — making it clear that Dhoni’s position in the team was being evaluated with every passing innings, Dhoni showed the world why Virat Kohli still believes Dhoni is the man for India in crunch situations, that outshone resurgent Sri Lanka in the second ODI at Pallekele yesterday.
Sri Lanka were on top and the 109-run partnership between Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan (49) at the top of the innings didn’t really seem to have any bearing as Danajaya was on a roll and picking wickets in every over. But that is when Dhoni decided to remind the world that the strokes might have given way, but not the acumen.
He struggled, the turning ball didn’t help either. But Dhoni was a man on a mission and there were two things he needed to ensure. Firstly he needed to hold one end up and second he needed to ensure that Bhuvneshwar did not throw his wicket away.
Even the bails conspired to ensure that Dhoni’s innings wasn’t cut short on a night where Bhuvneshwar Kumar (53*) also outscored him.
But then, had Dhoni (45*) not held one end up, Sri Lanka would have definitely roared home. In the end, it was the unbeaten 100-run partnership between the two that saw the Indians end up on the victorious side.
With that masterclass he proved to the world, team India still need vintage Dhoni!
