I love to finish the game irrespective of the over count – MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni, the Captain of India took time to comment on the views of Gautam gambhir by saying he has his own style to finish the match which could get a positive result in any of the overs no matter 47th or 50th.

MS Dhoni and Umesh Yadav proudly walk out after scoring a tie against Sri Lanka
MS Dhoni and Umesh Yadav proudly walk out after scoring a tie against Sri Lanka

India won the fourth match of the Commonwealth Bank Series fourth match against Australia by four wickets on February 12, 2012, at Adelaide Oval, which was their first ever triumph against the hosts on that venue in the One Day International’s.

Australia smashed 269 runs for the loss of eight wickets in the allotted 50 overs while opting to bat first, David Hussey was the top scorer with 72 followed by 66 runs by the debutant Peter Forrest. Gambhir laid down solid foundation by thrashing 92 runs while opening the innings and nominal contribution was made by their middle order.

MS Dhoni walked in to bat when the fourth wicket went down at 178 in the 35th over and he made solid contribution of 61 runs with Suresh Raina who left him on the first ball of the 47th over for 33 runs. It was left to the skipper to see India through to the victory and the match was lingered on till the last over of the match.

India required 13 runs to win the match in the last over with two wickets in hand as Ravichandran Ashwin scored one run of the first two balls. Dhoni dispatched a huge six on the third ball from Clint McKay and went on to win the match for the Blue Shirts by securing three runs on the fourth ball of the over.

Gautam Gambhir broke out at the Captain after the match and advocated that the match should have been won couple of overs earlier. Dhoni believed that it depends on the different individuals how they read the game and finish it off but he tackles the situation in his own way without taking any risk. He said,

It’s different with individuals. Some like to finish early, take risk and finish it off. It’s difficult to play big shots (on big grounds). When you go for it, it really has to pay off. Otherwise, it looks as if this shot wasn’t needed at that stage.

India faced the same situation in their next game against Sri Lanka on February 14th, 2012, at the same park when they were facing a target of 237 runs set by the rival team. Gambhir once again continued with his great form with the willow in the tri-series by hamering 91 runs but the middle order batsmen crumbled. India was struggling at 178 after losing five wickets in 40.3 overs and it was left with Dhoni once again to show his potentials.

The match became sensational as India was searching nine runs for the success after losing eight wickets in the 50th over. Lasith Malinga bowled the last over and Dhoni could manage eight runs with his partners as another wicket was lost. India scored 236 runs at the end of the over and the thrilling encounter was tied and the claims of Gambhir proved vital whereas Dhoni still believed he was happy with his style by commenting,

I am not in a hurry to finish the game in the 47th or 48th over. I am happy, if I can do it in the 50th over. I don’t have the luxury of batsmen behind me. I like to finish the job.


Comments

One response to “I love to finish the game irrespective of the over count – MS Dhoni”

  1. Yeh Dhoni, you want to hog all limelight by dragging the match to the last ball and then hitting boundary to give it a grand finale and accept all applause.

    You have done it many times in the past, this is your USP.

    Get over it dude! Play to win, you will get more respect.

    This mind game of yours wouldn’t work any more and not to mention it is dangerous too. Sometimes luck runs out and you get busted like in last match.

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