India vs Bangladesh, Cricket World Cup: Sachin Tendulkar passes verdict on MS Dhoni’s approach, innings against Bangladesh
Dhoni’s sluggish approach was criticised against Afghanistan and then his lack of intent was questioned by many during India’s chase against England.
Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first in Edgbaston and his openers justified the call by the skipper. They put on a solid opening stand and at one stage, the Indian side was looking at cruising past 350. However, wickets fell at regular intervals which slowed down the scoring rate and once again, MS Dhoni was hanging in, trying to take the innings till the final over. He even refused singles in the final over, but the final flourish did not come.
While his tactics were questioned, Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar threw his weight behind the seasoned campaigner and said that the wicket-keeper batsman did what was best for the side.
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“I felt it was an important innings and he (MS Dhoni) did exactly what was right for the team. If he stays till the 50th over, he can help other guys around him. He is expected to do that and he did that,” Sachin told India Today.
“For him, it is more about the team. Whatever is the need of the hour, one needs to do that and on Tuesday, he did that perfectly,” he further added.
Interestingly, Sachin had criticised Dhoni for his sluggish innings against Afghanistan and had suggested that the senior pro needed to play with more intent.
“I felt slightly disappointed, it could have been much better. I was also not happy with the partnership between Kedar and Dhoni, it was very slow. We batted 34 overs of spin bowling and scored 119 runs. This was one area where we didn’t look comfortable at all. There was no positive intent,” Sachin had said after that match.
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