Internet Desk: Just ahead of the second ODI against Sri Lanka, India skipper Virat Kohli showed his full support to his former captain MS Dhoni and in reply the best finisher in the world played a match winning knock to prove his worth for the side.
Dhoni played a match winning knock of 45* off 68 deliveries and guided tail-ender Bhuvneshwar Kumar (53*) as the duo shared a match winning partnership of 100 runs for the eighth wicket to register a thrilling 3-wicket victory over the hosts via D/L method.
A lot of questions have been indirectly raised on MS Dhoni and his career in the past few days. Leading the pack is selection committee chairman MSK Prasad who has went on record to say that Dhoni is no more the automatic choice in the ODI team. Also joining him is former India opener Gautam Gambhir who feels every player should be picked on the basis of current form and not past laurels. Dhoni showed everyone that his experience in the field worth its weight in gold as he rotated the strike with singles and doubles with Kumar to get keep the scoreboard moving. In his cautious knock he only scored a single boundary to take his side home.
Dhoni soaked all the pressure earlier in their partnership as Bhuvneshwar played a lot of dot deliveries to set on a spin friendly wicket. Later in the innings Bhuvneshwar got a lot of confidence from his partner Dhoni and showed the world that he is more than a capable batsman as he hit boundaries through all parts of the ground.
During this incredible run chase, Dhoni looked very calm and all the half chances were going in his favour, just like his old days. Dhoni equaled legendary Sri Lankan wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara’s record for most stumpings in ODI cricket last night. Sri Lankan opener Gunathilaka was Dhoni’s 99th stumping in limited-overs cricket. Sangakkara created this record by playing 404 ODIs, while Dhoni has touched the same feat with playing only 298 ODIs in comparison.
Dhoni’s luck worked again just like the old days during his partnership with Bhuvneshwar Kumar. In the 35th over of the second innings, Vishwa Fernando almost turned the match in favour of the hosts, when India was 59 runs away from their target.
The star wicket-keeper batsman failed to make a proper contact with the ball and the ball trickled behind and touched the stumps and Dhoni had no clue where the ball was going. Though the bails weren’t dislodged and Dhoni survived the scare.
With this win over Sri Lanka at Palleke last night, Virat Kohli led Indian cricket team has taken a 2-0 lead in the 5-match ODI series. In their next encounter on Sunday at Pallekele again the visitors would like to seal the series with an unassailable 3-0 lead.