Virat Kohli defended experienced Wicket keeper batsman MS Dhoni’s laboured batting after India succumbed to an 86-run defeat in the second ODI of the three-match ODI series at the Lord’s on Saturday. Dhoni managed 37 off 59 deliveries at a strike-rate of 62.7 and looked completely out-of-sorts during India’s chase. Dhoni wasn’t able to play according to situation, which helped the hosts level the series and force the match into decider.
In the post-match presentation, when asked about Dhoni’s innings, Kohli said: “These things always come up whenever he isn’t able to play the way he wants.”
“People just wait to jump on him (Dhoni). When it works, they call him the best finisher and if it doesn’t, they jump on him. Today (Saturday) was a bad day for all of us, not just him. He is experienced and the idea was to take it deep as you don’t want to lose by 150-160 runs,” the India skipper added.
“I think we started off well with the bat, it was a really good wicket to play on throughout the course of the game,” Kohli said. “The wicket did slow up in the second half but when we lost wickets early, that’s where we lost it,” Kohli said.
