Former Indian skipper MS Dhoni did a complete justification to the stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma’s decision to send him up to the no.4 position after the dismissal of in-form Shreyas Iyer.
Last month, Mahi faced immense criticism especially in the shortest format, went on to score 39 runs in 22 balls at a strike rate of 177.27 in Cuttack. His eventful innings which comprised of 4 fours and 1 six, led India to a massive total of 180 on a two-pacedCuttack pitch.
Speaking of Dhoni’s performance, opener KL Rahul said, “I think he is in great shape, he almost killed me as soon as he came into bat. I don’t know what form you are talking about but every time I switch on the TV or every time I have played with him, he always seems to get the runs. The last time we were here in Cuttack, he got a massive hundred against England and he has been contributing really well in every game.”
Rahul also added that Dhoni will always be a match winner for India, he said, “He is somebody we all look up to, he is somebody who is a match-winner and he will always be one.”
He further elaborated, “It’s not a bad thing that the top three is scoring runs for any team but yes I think in the last three or four series, the middle order and the lower order have also contributed a lot and that’s why I think we have been successful and winning so consistently.”
The flamboyant opener also acknowledged the fact tha a middle-order batsman can’t be expected to do the job all the time. He said, “For a middle-order batsman, when he walks in, it’s not the easiest, you need to get on with the game as soon as you can. You need to maintain a certain strike rate so it can’t be easy but that’s how the sport is, it’s not easy for anybody batting anywhere.”
Rahul also played some trustworthy inning on Wednesday as he went on to score 61 runs off 48 balls and laid a strong foundation in the first 10-overs for Dhoni and Manish Pandey to take the total forward. Speaking on his innings, Rahul said, “Every innings is important and with the kind of competition that is in the team, whatever opportunities you get, you need to go out there and make it count, try to do your best and that’s what I did. I tried to keep things simple and I’m very glad that it came off today.”
In the second innings, India registered a comfortable win by 93 runs in the first T20I as the Sri Lankan batsmen crumbled under pressure and got bowled out for a meagre total of 87 runs. The second T20I between the two countries will be played on Friday in Indore.
