XtraTime Web Desk: India’s ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah heaped praise for MS Dhoni as he feels that the former skipper’s knock was “top rated” against West Indies and it helped the Men in Blue to post a competitive total on a tricky batting surface at the Old Trafford.
“Such type of innings is highly underrated. Sometimes, it appears as if he (Dhoni) is playing slowly and takes a lot of time. But while batting on such wickets, it is important to take your time.
“We all saw how he took the game deep and in the end, it was because of him that we could reach 268 which was a very good total on this wicket,” said Bumrah while speaking to Yuzvendra Chahal for BCCI TV after India registered a thumping 125-run victory over West Indies on Thursday.
At first Dhoni started slowly against West Indies as he took some time to get used to with the surface and scored 20 runs off first 40 deliveries. Though later he started playing big shots and scored 56 runs in 61 deliveries. Among this he scored 16 in the final over of the innings against Oshane Thomas.
In between the innings Dhoni shared a partnership of 70 runs with Hardik Pandya which helped India to reach 268/7 and that was a par score in Manchester as per Bumrah.
“This is where his experience comes in handy for the team as he absorbs all the pressure, takes the game deep and backs his style of play. We youngsters learn a lot from him. So, it was a top-rated inning because of which we could reach around 270,” he added.
Apart from contributing with the bat, Dhoni also took a brilliant one-handed diving catch to dismiss Carlos Brathwaite. Bumrah bowled the delivery from wide of the crease and Brathwaite had no option but to follow the ball. The ball took the outside edge of his bat and Dhoni dived to his right and completed a one-handed stunning catch and ended Brathwaite’s innings for just 1 run.
“I was trying to bowl an outswing delivery. And that catch taken by Dhoni was outstanding. He has been taking such catches since many years and once again he did the same,” said Bumrah while applauding Dhoni for the catch.