With his well-paced knock in 2nd ODI, Dhoni showed why he remains vital part of Indian team
India's series-levelling six-wicket win at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday may give an indication that all is well with the Indian batting line up in 50-overs format.
Courtesy Virat Kohli's brilliant 39th ODI century at his favourite ground and complemented by the calculative duo of No. 5 Mahendra Singh Dhoni and No. 6 Dinesh Karthik, India achieved their highest successful run chase at this venue in the last over.
This may have even covered up Ambati Rayudu's twin failures (0 in 2 balls at SCG and 24 in 36 balls in Adelaide) at the crucial No. 4 position.
In as much as Kohli's ton was the fulcrum of India's win, it also reiterated the importance of Dhoni's knock and reassuring his fans that he was still not finished as an ODI player and that he can be relied upon to finish matches for India.
In the debate on whether Dhoni, the batsman, should be around in ODIs till the World Cup because he is scoring runs slowly, the fact that he has scored back-to-back fifties – 51 in Sydney and 55* in Adelaide – has almost been forgotten. There is no doubt over his wicketkeeping abilities and the 37-year-old seems to be getting better and sharper with age.
Yes, batsman Dhoni of today is not the same, young and fast-paced with the bat as he was when he was playing all the formats for the country. His strike rate has dropped to the 80s and 70s since retiring from Tests to focus only on the limited-overs format.
Yes, Dhoni of today is struggling, especially against the spinners and consumes too many deliveries that is quite unfathomable in the age of the booming T20 cricket. His 96-ball 51 in the losing cause in the first ODI will be the talking point and be held against him much more than his match-winning 54-ball unbeaten 55 in the second.
With Dhoni playing too many dot balls of late, the rotation of strike is stalled, thereby putting his batting partner under pressure to keep the scoreboard ticking.
The circumstance in which he went out to bat in Sydney, in the fourth over at 4/3 chasing 289, was not ideal for Dhoni to go and unleash a flurry of strokes straightaway. The situation demanded that he and the centurion Rohit Sharma resurrect the Indian innings and not cause further damage by scoring in a hurry and thereby lose more wickets.
However, in chasing 10 extra runs in the second game, Dhoni came into his own, though he looked exhausted due to the punishing weather, to finish at a strike rate of more than a run a ball.
Dhoni's knock in Adelaide has reiterated that he is not yet a spent force in the ODI set up. Captain Kohli termed Dhoni's knock as an "MS Classic".
Dhoni has not lost the finishing touch yet. When Karthik joined him with India needing 57 in 38 deliveries, Dhoni kept a cool mind that has become synonymous with him. Even when 25 were needed from 18 deliveries or 16 from the last 12, Dhoni did not panic, taking singles and twos and keeping the fans guessing. But, like Kohli said, only Dhoni knows what is going on in his mind.
As has become Dhoni's habit, and as he has always maintained, he calculates the chase so brilliantly that keeps everyone on their toes and gives belief to his dressing room that India are on course.
Dhoni may not be playing his trademark helicopter shot as often as he used to in his younger days, but he has not lost the knack of seeing India home in run chases, and more often than not, him staying till the end.
One section of the public will see Dhoni as a liability with the bat, especially keeping the World Cup in mind, India cannot do without his experience in the quadrennial event. There is no doubt in the minds of Kohli and the team management of Dhoni's presence for the World Cup.
But, it is where he has to bat that will be interesting. When Dhoni relinquished ODI captaincy in early 2017, Kohli said that No. 4 was where he'd see his predecessor bat as he deserved to play freely and not take anymore pressure of finishing matches.
That Dhoni continues to bat at No 5 or 6 and rarely at No. 4 is something that needs to be revisited. Batting at 4 also gives Dhoni the cushion of consuming deliveries early on and gradually catch up with the strike rate after settling down, something that he cannot afford to do lower in the order. Dhoni at No. 4 would also mean that he would, more often than not, bat alongside Kohli, who keeps the scoreboard moving and maintains a higher strike rate.
Dhoni in ODIs since Jan 1, 2017
Mts: 51
Inn: 37
Not out: 12
Runs: 1,169
100/50: 1/8
Hs: 134
Ave: 46.76
SR: 79.79
Did you know?
MS Dhoni's career strike rate in ODIs is 87.67 while the same in the last two years since giving up ODI captaincy is 79.79
Dhoni at various batting positions
| Position |
Position |
Runs |
100s/50s |
Ave |
SR |
| No. 4 |
29 |
1,271 |
1/11 |
52.96 |
94.22 |
| No. 5 |
75 |
2,945 |
4/17 |
51.67 |
86.34 |
| No. 6 |
126 |
4,031 |
1/29 |
46.33 |
83.23 |
| Career |
283 |
10,279 |
10/69 |
50.39 |
87.67 |
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