Following India’s thumping win over the West Indies at Old Trafford in Manchester, former India player and chairman of selectors Madan Lal tweeted his congratulations to Team India and added, “My.only worry going into the tournament & Semi Final is the No.4 spot and middle order. Hope the team can sort it out be next game vs England (sic)”.
Concerns were raised after India’s match against minnows Afghanistan over the middle order and particularly Mahendra Singh Dhoni and it persisted somewhat even after the emphatic win against the West indies. Post the Afghanistan innings, Dhoni’s lack of positive intent with the bat had been flagged by former players such as Sachin Tendulkar. For the second match in a row, all eyes were on India’s brittle middle order and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s ongoing battle with the bat.
India captain Virat Kohli did a minor rejig to his current middle order on Thursday. With number 4 Vijay Shankar (14 runs) failing to convert his start yet again, he sent Kedar Jadhav ahead of Dhoni at number 5. When Jadhav, too, fell cheaply, Dhoni came in at number 6, hoping Southampton versus Afghanistan was a one-off for the former captain. Batting on a slower wicket, Dhoni helped Team India put up a challenging total of 268 with his contribution of an unbeaten 56 off 61 balls. He even came up with his last-over, last-ball flourish scoring 16 runs off it, which included two sixes and a four.
With Dhoni, it has become a case of glass half-full or glass half-empty.
In Manchester, the initial period was tough for Dhoni; he still did not look at ease in the middle and more so against spinner Fabien Allen. Dhoni could have been out at 8 but for wicket-keeper Shai Hope’s shoddy attempts at stumping twice off Allen. Had that happened, this would have been the second time he would have fallen to a spinner in two matches. Interestingly, following are his runs scored off spinners in the last two matches: versus Afghanistan he scored 12 of his 28 runs off 43 balls; against West Indies he could score 9 runs off 19 deliveries.
Dhoni's inability to rotate strike to the spinners in both occasions resulted in his starts appearing laboured. He has not been taking the aerial route like during his hey days. So, that was not an option either. Dhoni’s inninings on Thursday was an improvement on the Southampton one, helped by the fact that Hardik Pandya (46 in 38 balls) was playing a matured and assured innings at the other end. The duo had a partnership of 70 runs in 62 balls. The pressure, undoubtedly, was lesser on Dhoni.
READ: Dhoni―The ‘all-rounder’ Team India needs at the World Cup
After the fall of Hardik Pandya that he had no option to up the ante in his typical style. Thankfully for him and India, he managed to pull off his famous last over heist including a six off the last over. While it will be a relief that Dhoni has pulled off his current batting formula successfully in the match against West Indies, that he will be able to do so more consistently against other bowling attacks, especially in crucial knock out matches, is no more a guarantee.
The story of his innings can be divided into two parts. The first 40 runs and the last 16 runs. The first 40 runs runs came in 55 balls. The last 16 runs in six balls. The last over also saw him refusing runs twice, keeping the strike with himself. Sixteen runs was also the most runs scored by India in the last over so far in the World Cup.
Kohli defended Dhoni after the match saying the ex-captain’s formula of a slow start and ending with a flourish has worked eight times out of 10, and the team reposed total faith in his abilities and experience. “He knows exactly what he wants to do out in the middle. Anyone has off days. When he has an off day here and there, everyone gets up and starts talking,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation. “What we have always maintained in the change room is backing him, and he has won us so many games. The best thing about having someone like him is when you need those extra 15-20 runs, he knows exactly how to get them with the tail. Keeping strike in the end and finishing off with two big sixes gave us a boost as a team. We were looking at 250, but we got close to 270-odd because he was out there in the middle. Hardik also played really well, but his experience has come good eight out of ten times for us.”
This is presently the challenge for the Indian team other than a faltering middle order. Will Dhoni regain his consistency of batting deep and ending Indian innings on a high note? With tougher tests awaiting India especially one against hosts England on Sunday, June 30, could reveal a lot.