Dhoni’s poor form a worry for India ahead of second ODI against Australia

Dhoni’s 51 off 96 balls and failing to rotate the strike has brought to focus the rejigging that skipper Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri will have to fret upon

Sports News: Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s inability to set the pace during middle overs will remain a major cause of concern when India take on Australia in a do-or-die second ODI on Tuesday in their bid to keep the three-match series alive.

Hardik Pandya’s sudden suspension on disciplinary grounds has badly affected the balance of the batting order, which was apparent during team’s 34-run defeat in the opening match despite vice-captain Rohit Sharma’s 22nd hundred in 50-over format. Dhoni’s 51 off 96 balls and failing to rotate the strike has brought to focus the rejigging that skipper Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri will have to fret upon.

Also Read: India tour of Australia 2019

With Dhoni being slotted at No 5 even though vice-captain Rohit wants the veteran to bat a notch higher but cues from India’s training session made it clear that the team is unlikely to tinker with the batting order. India’s batting order did come under the spotlight at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The top three (Rohit, Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli) have enjoyed a fairly consistent run since 2016.

But it was a rare occasion when Dhoni had to come out in the fourth over of the innings. Dhoni averages 52.95 while batting at number four, which is higher than his current career-average of 50.11 over 333 games. It is even higher than his favoured batting positions of number five (50.70) and six (46.33) but batting lower down the order, strike-rate becomes paramount….

Contain Source by Business Standard or BS

Kohli was silly and disrespectful during the second Test: Johnson

Johnson said that Kohli didn’t his keep words after making pre-series claims that he won’t initiate any confrontations

BS: Former Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson slammed India captain Virat Kohli, describing his behaviour as “disrespectful” and “silly” during the second Test here. Kohli and Australia captain Tim Paine were involved in a series of heated exchanges, which at one point prompted umpire Chris Gaffaney to step in to dissolve the tension.

However, once the second Test ended with Australia beating India by 146 runs, both the captains played down the issue, saying no line was crossed. But Johnson was extremely critical of Kohli’s behaviour during the Test.

“At the end of the match, you should be able to look each other in the eyes, shake hands and say ‘great contest’,” he wrote in a column for Fox Sports. “Virat Kohli could not do that with Tim Paine, shaking the Australian captain’s hand but barely making eye contact with him. To me, that is disrespectful.

“Kohli gets away with more than most cricketers simply because he is Virat Kohli and he gets placed on a pedestal but this Test left the Indian captain looking silly,” he wrote. BCCI on Tuesday came out in support of Kohli, rubbishing media reports in Australia which claimed that Kohli had bragged about being the best batsman in the world while ridiculing Paine as a “stand-in captain”.

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