Be it for giving credit or putting blame, legendary captain MS Dhoni‘s name needlessly crops up with respect to anything which happens with the Indian cricket team these days.
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Not associated with the national team in any capacity at the moment, Chennai Super Kings captain has been blamed for current Indian captain Rohit Sharma and his predecessor Virat Kohli‘s cheap dismissals in the ongoing third match of Asia Cup 2023 against Pakistan at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
First two Indian batters to be dismissed in the first powerplay itself, both Sharma and Kohli were found wanting in consecutive overs bowled by Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi. While two early breakthroughs highlighted India’s struggle against top-notch left-arm pacers yet again, the team’s impotence to dominate against Pakistan lately was bequeathed to Dhoni.
MS Dhoni Blamed For Rohit Sharma And Virat Kohli’s Dismissals In Asia Cup 2023
A certain Twitter user, more of a Dhoni fan account, took a dig at the current team by mentioning how it is Dhoni’s fault behind India’s mediocre performances against their arch-rivals of late. It was a sarcastic tweet where the user meant that Dhoni managed to make the sight of defeating Pakistan so common that winning against them seems to be a daunting task now.
“I blame MS Dhoni for this! He made winning against Pakistan look soooo easy,” @thegoat_msd_ tweeted.
In 26 matches against Pakistan across formats as a captain, Dhoni had scored 777 runs at an average of 48.56 and a strike rate of 85.66 including a century and five half-centuries.
As A Captain, MS Dhoni Had Won 9 Multi-Team Matches In A Row Vs Pakistan Since 2009
Under Dhoni, India won 18 and lost eight out of their 26 matches across formats against Pakistan. If these numbers aren’t impressive enough, what is worth applauding is the fact that Dhoni had led the national team to as many as 13 victories and just three losses in 16 multi-team tournament matches against Pakistan.
Barring Kitply Cup 2008 final, Asia Cup 2008 Super Four match and ICC Champions Trophy 2009 league match, India never lost a multi-team tournament match against Pakistan under Dhoni. Commendably enough, India had won nine matches in a row against this opposition between 2010-2016 under the leadership of someone who won them three ICC events between 2007-2013.
Talking about some memorable Indian wins in this period, the first one has to be ICC World Twenty20 2007 final which powered them to become the champions of the inaugural season. Four years down the line, a historic India-Pakistan ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 semi-final remains another fan-favourite till date.
As a batter, Dhoni’s 113* (125) amid a quintessential batting collapse in Chennai has to be his one of his most determined batting performance at the highest level.
