The former skipper of the Indian Cricket Team, MS Dhoni is arguably one of the most successful cricketer India has ever produced. He has played a lot of memorable knocks for his country. Dhoni’s unbeaten knock of 91 is one of the best knocks he has ever played. He is arguably one of the aggressive cricketers in the world. The right-hander could smash any bowling line-up in the world. Even though he has played many match-winning knocks for his country, his slow knocks has also costed the Indian team.
In our article, we will take at the 3 occasions when the Indian team lost the game due to the slow knocks of MS Dhoni:
#3 51 off 96 against Australia in 2019:
During the India tour of Australia in 2019, the Australian team had to face the Indian team without their two main batsmen, David Warner and Steven Smith. In the absence of the batting duo, it was Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb who took the responsibility to score runs for their team. The batting first Australian team went on to post a defendable total of 288 on the board.
While chasing the target, though India lost Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and Ambati Rayudu cheaply, it was Rohit Sharma who smashed the Australian bowling attack all over the park. He went on to score a brilliant hundred before being dismissed on 133 off 129 deliveries. Though the stage was set for chasing, Dhoni could not play his natural game as he scored 51 runs from 96 deliveries. He could not launch the attack on the Australian bowlers. His slow knock at a strike-rate of 53.33 costed a game.
#2 31* off 37 against Rajasthan Royals in 2015:
Batting first, Chennai Super Kings looked in good touch when the skipper, MS Dhoni built the partnership with the all-rounder, Dwayne Bravo. The 89-run partnership between these two batsmen helped their team to reach 156 at the end of the innings. But, what was wrong was the strike-rate of the skipper. While Bravo scored 36-ball 62*, the skipper could score at a strike-rate of about 83.
He had faced most deliveries but failed to hit over the park during the death overs. While chasing the target of 157, the opening duo of Ajinkya Rahane and Shane Watson smashed 76 and 73 runs respectively to take their team home.
#1 67 off 100 against Sri Lanka in 2010:
During the final of the Triangular Series, the hosts, Sri Lanka posted a target of 300 on the board. The Sri Lankan openers Jayawardene and Dilshan provided a blistering start to their teams. While Jayawardene could score 39 runs, Dilshan went to score 110 off 115 deliveries with the help of 12 boundaries and a six. Sangakkara utilised the start by the openers and scored 71 off 62 balls.
While chasing the target, Dinesh Karthik, who opened the innings along with Virender Sehwag, had no answer to Malinga’s aggressive spell as he got out on duck. Sehwag’s quickfire 28, Virat Kohli’s 37 set the stage for the middle-order players. But, when the Indian players had to play big shots to reach the target, it was Dhoni again, who played another slowest knock of his career. Dhoni, who was in tremendous form in 2010, had scored 67 off 100 deliveries that mounted a pressure on other batsmen as well. The Indian team went on to lost the game by the margin of 74 runs.
