Former Indian pacer Ajit Agarkar has felt that MS Dhoni’s slow-moving knock was not helping Rohit Sharma in the Sydney ODI against the hosts Australia that India lost by 34 runs.

Chasing down the 289 runs target that set by the hosts (288/5) after winning the toss, India was under deep trouble at the beginning as they were struggling on 4/3. While the opener Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed for a golden duck, the skipper Virat Kohli (3) and the no.4 batsman Ambati Rayudu (0) followed Dhawan soon.

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After that, the other Indian opener Rohit Sharma and the wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni provided a crucial 137-run partnership for the fourth wicket. While Rohit played a brilliant century knock of 133 off 129 balls (10 fours and 6 sixes) and fought almost till the end, Dhoni played a 51-run innings off 96 balls before he was unluckily dismissed through a wrong lbw decision.

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Admitting the situation was very critical at the early stage, Agarkar feels that Dhoni should keep the scoreboard busy once he settled down in the crease. The former Indian pacer doesn’t impress Dhoni’s slow half-century knock that he completed in 93 balls. Agarkar feels that innings wasn’t helping Rohit at the other end.

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Talking about that innings, Agarkar told ESPNcricinfo, “Yes, tough situation to come in when you are three down with four runs on the board. And you could argue that the first 25-30 balls, you’ve not been here. But once you are set. I mean Rohit can get 288 all by himself. There has to be a support from the other end. And not from someone who is striking at 50 when he finishes after 100 balls. And, 100 balls are a lot of deliveries in one-day cricket.

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“You can argue for the first few deliveries because the pressure is on and you don’t want to throw your wicket. But eventually, you need to do what the team requires you to do. And if you are not doing it then you got to worry about whether the person is good enough to do it or not. Yes, he got a fifty but even then it was fifty off like 100 balls. That wasn’t helping Rohit at the other end. Dhoni fans might argue that he got a rough one otherwise he could have carried on. But it did not look like in that stage. It seemed that Rohit was doing the bulk of the work.”