April 5 ( Punjab Khabarnama) : The world may have celebrated MS Dhoni’s whirlwind knock of unbeaten 37 balls off 16 balls with much aplomb, but Simon Doull surely wasn’t one of them. The former New Zealand pacer slammed the Chennai Super Kings legend for ‘poor calls’ accusing Dhoni of wasting balls, not running singles, and most importantly refusing Ravindra Jadeja the strike.
Dhoni batted for the first time this IPL during CSK’s game against Delhi Capitals four nights ago at Visakhapatnam. At the time he walked out to bat, CSK needed to knock off 72 off 24 balls. Certainly not easy, but not un-gettable either. Having struck two boundaries off the first three balls, Dhoni’s innings raised hopes before a similar pattern came to the fore yet again. Despite trying his best, Dhoni was squeezed for length to limit his bat-swing and played out a few dot balls where every run counted for CSK.
Dhoni of course finished on a personal high, bludgeoning two sixes and two fours off Anrich Nortje in the last over, but the game was beyond reach at that stage. As Dhoni sent the internet into overdrive, love and adulation followed. Monikers such as ‘Dhoni of the old is back’ and all became the rage for the next 24 hours. However, a flabbergasted Doull questioned Dhoni’s tactics, clearly not impressed with the former CSK captain’s thinking and decision-making.
“There was lot of ‘oohs and aahs’ about Dhoni’s innings. But he blocked a lot of balls. he faced a lot of dots. Then he started to not take runs. I couldn’t believe what I was watching. I know he is the great MS Dhoni but it was a poor call. Really poor call not to take run. You are still trying to win a game. I know he was batting after a long time, first time he came out to bat in this season and he is probably thinking at some stage maybe he got to find some form but I didn’t agree with it. I didn’t agree with what happen in that situation. To me it was a really poor look,” Doull said on Cricbuzz.
“I was watching and I was thinking, you know am I allowed to say this… well yeah we have to at some stage you have too. It didn’t look good to me watching on the television. I have enormous amount of respect for the man but that just didn’t quite look right to me, when he was hitting the ball and not taking the runs. Yes, they might need sixes, their might be boundaries only required but there were a lot of ‘oohs and aahs’ made about it. He is back, Dhoni is back, they lost the game.”
Jadeja no bunny, reminds Doull
The part that shocked Doull the most was Dhoni’s decision to turn down singles when Ravindra Jadeja was batting at the other end. MSD is known for being notorious when it comes to turning down singles to the non-striker and trusting his own instincts, but while he has succeeded, there have been failed attempts too. Last year, it was Jadeja who won the game for final for CSK with a six and four off the last two balls, so whether Dhoni, at 42, still be taking strike over other capable and active cricketers may be up for debate but Doull knows where he stands on the matter.
“It’s not like you have got a bunny on the other hand. You have Jadeja at the other end. Think about the final last year, what happened in the final last year… six and four needed of the last two balls to win the title. It’s not like he can’t hit the ball out of the park,” pointed out Doull.