There is no denying to the fact that during the fourth ODI against Australia the Indian team felt the absence of MS Dhoni in Mohali. They failed to defend a mammoth total of 359 runs as Australia chased down the target with 13 balls to spare. Even the crowd chanted Dhoni’s name when the young gloveman Rishabh Pant missed Ashton Turner’s stumping chance which eventually cost India the game. The former Indian captain Bishan Singh Bedi also felt the same as he termed Dhoni as half captain of the team.
The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli seemed angry with the team during the post-match presentation for the lack of intensity. With him needed to field in the deep at long off, there was no one to guide the bowlers that often. Normally, Dhoni handles the bowlers in the closing stages of the innings and the same had happened during the second ODI when the things went down the wire.
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Bedi also pointed out that Kohli needs Dhoni on the field as his absence was felt in Mohali. Pant felt the pressure and he made mistakes when it mattered the most. As per the quotes in Times of India, Bedi said, “I am nobody to comment but we all are wondering that why Dhoni is being rested and his absence was felt yesterday, behind the stumps, with the bat, and on-field also. He is almost half a captain.”
He further added, “Dhoni is not getting any younger, he is no spring chicken either but the team needs him. He has a calming influence on the side. The captain needs him by his side, he is visibly rough without him. It is not a good sign.”
Bishan Singh Bedi also expressed his disappointment over the resting and experimenting of the players and urged about living in the present. He also cautioned the team over some of the cricketers getting injured in the IPL ahead of the all-important World Cup.
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Former skipper further elaborated, “I would personally like them to live in the present. World Cup is still two and a half months away. Just play the game. For the World Cup, we have been experimenting in the last one year and I am not happy with that at all.”
