England all-rounder Ben Stokes questioned MS Dhoni for showing no intent during India’s ICC World Cup 2019 game against the host. The all-rounder also said that he found Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s approach ‘mystifying’ during that game.
It was the game at Birmingham where England defeated India comprehensively by 31 runs. The Men In Blues failed to chase England’s massive score of 337 for 7 during the mega event. The match took a toll on India’s performance who finally bowed out from the semifinals losing to New Zealand.
MS Dhoni showed no intent: Ben Stokes
In his new book ‘On Fire’, Ben Stokes launched a barrage of attacks on India for their performance against England. MS Dhoni remained unbeaten on 42 off 31 balls but most of the runs came in the last over when the contest was over. The incident forced many people to question Dhoni and Stokes once again ignited the fire.
“Arguably, the way MS Dhoni played when he came in with 112 runs needed from 11 overs was even stranger. He appeared more intent on singles than sixes. Even with a dozen balls remaining, India could still have won.
“…there was little or no intent from him (Dhoni) or his partner Kedar Jadhav. To me, while victory is still possible you always go for broke,” Stokes wrote in his soon-to-be-published book.
Moreover, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli also found it hard to score the runs in the opening overs managing only 138 runs from 27 overs. The likes of Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer bowled outstanding lines to keep the duo silent. Ben Stokes also called out Kohli and Rohit’s tactic terming it as bizarre.
“The way Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli played was mystifying. I know that we bowled brilliantly well during this period, but the way they went about their batting just seemed bizarre.
“They allowed their team to get so far behind the game. They showed no desire to put any pressure back onto our team, content instead to just drift along, a tactic that was clearly playing into our hands,” Stokes signed off.