Why Captain MS Dhoni Ran Out of Option in the Death Overs?

By: Drcricket7 Staff

India have got this one wrong. Instead of replacing Pawan Negi, the left-arm spinner cum lower-middle order batsman, with an injured and lucky mascot, Yuvraj Singh, the team management opted for two changes completely out of the blue.

Ajinkya Rahane was picked ahead of out-of-form opener Shikhar Dhawan while Manish Pandey was favoured as Yuvraj’s replacement on a Wankhede track which is conducive to stroke-making.

This strange move cost India dear. So much so that captain MS Dhoni ran out of option in the death overs and turned to Virat Kohli to wield some magic with the ball.

Otherwise, how on earth can you justify India’s loss to the West Indies by seven wickets in the World T20 semifinal match at the Wankhede stadium – that too after scoring 192 runs at the loss of two wickets in 20 overs?

Of course, West Indies’ replacement for Andre Fletcher, Lendl Simmons, was at his best. He combined his luck of getting caught twice to a no-ball with some lusty hits to carry West Indies to the finals (on 18 and 50 he escaped after the Indian bowlers had overstepped for no-balls). But the Indians could have bowled better.

After the contest was over, only Ashish Nehra’s bowling figure stood out. He conceded 24 runs from his quota of four overs and captured one wicket to his credit while the rest of his colleagues were extremely generous towards the West Indies batsmen, especially the spinners.

Right at the top, Johnson Charles, the West Indies opener, showed great courage to hang in there to repair the West Indies innings with Lendl. Towards the end, it was Andre Russell who gave finishing touches along with Lendl to round up the match in style. The dew factor also helped Lendl & Company to cut through the chase.

Earlier, all hell broke lose in the West Indies camp when Kohli, India’s run-machine, was again at it – cutting, driving, pulling the ball with utmost ease and mesmerised the spectators with some outstanding cricketing shots. It was different that Lendl took control of the match later on to destroy Kohli’s hard work.

Sum up both the innings – India scored 92 runs from boundaries while the West Indies got 146. This comparison also proves to show how much hard work the Indian batsmen, led by Kohli, had to do in the middle by running hard between the wicket.

Even the opener – Rohit Sharma and Rahane – who happened to be from Mumbai got runs, but it was the late charge by Kohli and Dhoni that boosted India’s grand total. Unfortunately for the hosts, the West Indies were ready to chase any target on Thursday. Because it was their day under the lights!