So, Mohammad Azharuddin believes “Dhoni is not the player he used to be.” That’s the polite Hyderabadi way of saying he should retire yesterday.
Yesterday. We lost to South Africa by 5 runs. Dhoni the ‘finisher’ did not give us another famous finish as he mistimed a pull off young Rabada.
‘Cos of that, a DNA online poll indicated that 61 percent of India’s cricket fans blamed Dhoni for the loss. Just 22 percent blamed Kohli. Bizarrely, 2 percent even blamed Rohit Sharma!
Gosh, memories are getting short! Any memories of our bowling figures guys? No? I’ll come to that shortly.
I’m going to keep this telegraphic, in case readers forget what I’m talking about.
In 2015, in ODI matches, these are the batting averages of our regular batsmen –
Dhawan 40.12
Raina 37.6
Rahane 38.2
Kohli 29.9
Dhoni 41.72
Only Rohit Sharma is ahead of MSD @59.6
So, do we really want to jettison Dhoni just yet? Can we afford to? Leave the ‘finishing’ to whom… Binny the Younger?? Mwwuuaahahahahahahaha (villain laugh).
Villains. We had quite a few yesterday. Let’s meet them.
Stuart ‘Little’ Binny. 2 Runs. 63 off 8 overs.
Umesh Yadav. 71 off 10 overs.
Bhuvi. 67 off 10 overs.
Raina. 3 Runs.
Virat Kohli. 11 Runs off 18 balls.
And yet the guy who made 31 off 30 balls, we want him out of the team?
Our pace duo of Umesh and Bhuvi gave away 138 runs. Steyn and Morkel gave away 105. In Over 45, Little Stuart gave away 21 runs. Then, in the last three overs we gave away another 53 runs! 74 runs in 4 Overs! Remember Dhoni Doubters, even if he retires, these bowlers remain, right down to the last Binny Rabbit.
The South African 5th bowler (Behardien + Duminy) gave away 74 runs. Raina + Binny the Bunny gave away 100.
Luckily Amit Mishra returned with 47 off 10 overs. Unluckily Ashwin had given just 14 off his 4.4 before he got injured. But, sh*t happens. The other 10 are supposed to pull their weight. That didn’t happen.
And in the run chase, here is where I believe we lost the match.
33.5 Overs. Rahane just out. Kohli walks in. We are way ahead in the chase. South Africa were at 154/3. We are at 192/2. So, we’re fully discounted for that late flurry in the Protean innings.
Over 35. 2 Runs.
Over 36. 7 Runs. (Thanks to a 4 hit by Rohit.)
Over 37. 2 Runs.
Over 38. 3 Runs.
Over 39. 3 Runs.
Over 40. 5 Runs. (On the last ball of this Steyn over, Kohli exits.)
6 Overs. 22 Runs. Why? What was Kohli thinking? Did he want 6 overs to ‘play himself in’? Why did he kill the momentum? Did the Africans suddenly become unplayable? Did Kohli think he was playing in whites? A couple of lean overs, we understand. But 6 on the trot? Hey Crown Prince, what was the ‘plan’? Do share.
It was this 6.2 over period that TRULY cost us the match.
Do I hear conspiracy theorists whispering – “Did Kohli tank the match?” Sorry, scratch that thought. It’s as unfair to Kohli, as Azhar’s is for Dhoni.
Meanwhile, I’m guessing Stuart My Bonny will get another game.
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