Following India's 40-run defeat in Rajkot, in the second T20I against New Zealand on Sunday, the former Indian batsman VVS Laxman raised questions on Ms.Dhoni's presence in Indian T20 team.
The comments came after Dhoni's poor showing to rotate strike early in his Innings. With India at 63/4 in the 10 over, Dhoni walked into the crease and accumulated more balls with hardly rotating the strike, where India required to go at more than 11 an over.
It not only affected him, but also Virat at the other end who, had to take all the responsibility to go big. At a point, the required rate crept beyond 15, Dhoni struggled, to come better against Kiwis well-laid plans and that made Virat go after everything, who in the process departed.
“In T20s, MS Dhoni's role is at No 4. He requires more time to get his eye in and then do the job. But today [Saturday] was a classical example because when Virat Kohli was batting, Dhoni had to give strike to Kohli. Kohli's strike rate was 160, MS Dhoni's strike rate was 80. That's not good enough when India were chasing a mammoth total,” said Laxman in the post-match analysis.
While it's common to be known, Dhoni takes time to settle into the innings, but it affected India when they had to get at higher run-rates. And, the former batsman, believes it's time for Dhoni to walk away from T20Is.
“I still feel it's time for MS Dhoni to give youngsters a chance in T20 format. It will be an opportunity for a youngster to blossom and get confidence playing international cricket. He is definitely an integral part of ODI cricket,”
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