On 24 August 2017, in the second ODI between India and Sri Lanka at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy, we witnessed something special. Something we hadn’t seen for some time now – a tactical genius at work.
In the past, we have seen MS Dhoni anchor a sinking Indian ship time and again. In Kandy, we had the pleasure of reliving it.
After a rain-delayed start, and in their quest to chase down a revised total of 231 runs in 47 overs, India got off to a blistering start with an opening stand of 109 runs in 15 overs between Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. However, the team was soon left tottering at 131/7 – courtesy an exceptional spell from Akila Dananjaya who claimed 6 of those wickets.
The spinner had scalped three wickets in one over, which included the dismissals of Kedar Jadhav, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. Now with sufficient overs in hand, but not many wickets, a different kind of innings was required of Dhoni…
He had denied Muttiah Muralitharan in 2011 (the World Cup final). And he denied Dananjaya again on Thursday.
The former skipper scored a patient (unbeaten) 45 off 68 balls to steer the innings, but more importantly mentored (the temperamentally just as superb) Bhuvneshwar Kumar at the other end. On realizing how well Kumar was middling the ball, Dhoni allowed him to retain most of the strike – and asked him to continue playing just as he would in a test match. Together, they held down the fort and stitched an unbeaten 100-run partnership to take India home.
Courtesy of an ingenious knock speared by MS Dhoni, India 231/7 (Rohit 54, Bhuvneshwar 53*, Dhawan 49, Dhoni 45*, Dananjaya 6-54) beat Sri Lanka 236/8 (Siriwardana 58, Bumrah 4-43) by three wickets (DLS method).
– Varun Kumar | SpreadSports
