Dharamsala: MS Dhoni’s critics had their mouths zipped on Sunday after the former India captain struck a gritty half-century during their first ODI loss against Sri Lanka at Dharamsala on Sunday.
Not only that, the wicketkeeper-batsman also displayed why he also possesses one of the most tactical brains, after correctly guessing another Decision Review System.
Being put to bat first, the Indian batting was left in tatters with 8 wickets down as MS Dhoni and Jasprit Bumrah aimed to steer the Men in Blue from deep waters.
During the 33rd over, Sachith Pathirana trapped Bumrah through an LBW dismissal and Dhoni signalled for a review even before the umpire could raise his finger.
Soon, Sri Lanka’s celebrations for the India pacer’s wicket was short lived as the decision was overturned by the 3rd umpire. Replays showed the ball pitching just outside off stump and Dhoni got it spot on.
Twitter lauded the veteran batsmen for his reading of the game.
The Gujarat speedster couldn’t make much of the lifeline as he was dismissed by the spinner during his 3rd over.
Had former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni not stood tall amid ruins with a face-saving 65 off 87 balls, India at one point of time reduced to 29 for 7 and in danger of recording their lowest ever ODI score. Their previous lowest was 54 against a formidable Sri Lanka in Sharjah back in 2000.
During Sri Lanka’s chase, Upul Tharanga blasted 49 off 46 balls with the help of 10 boundaries as the visitors overhauled the target with 29.2 overs to spare.
The win enabled Sri Lanka to break the ignominy of 12 straight defeats in ODIs and also their first win against India in a bilateral series in the current year after losing all international matches at home as well as the Test series here. With Sri Lanka taking a 1-0 lead, India’s chances of grabbing the No 1 spot in the ICC ODI rankings is pretty minimal.
