Unfit MS Dhoni misses 4th ODI vs New Zealand

Dixit Bhargav | 31/01/2019
Unfit MS Dhoni misses 4th ODI

Unfit MS Dhoni misses 4th ODI: The Indian wicket-keeper batsman failed to recover from his injury ahead of the fourth ODI.

Former India captain and current wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni had sustained a hamstring strain which forced him to sit out of the third ODI against New Zealand at Mount Maunganui.

In what came as an uncalled for update for the Indian team was regarding the recovery of the 37-year old cricketer. At the toss, stand-in India captain Rohit Sharma made it clear that Dhoni has still not recovered and will continue to sit out from the fourth ODI as well. “MS Dhoni is still not fit,” Sharma was quoted as saying.

After the official Twitter account of the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) had posted a photo of Dhoni batting in the nets yesterday, it was assumed that he would play today. While the team management and Dhoni’s plentiful fans would have hoped for the same, it didn’t happen eventually.

Coming on the back of a worst year (in terms of number of runs scored) in ODIs, Dhoni turned the tables this year after winning the ‘Man of the series’ trophy in the ODI series against Australia.

The fact that India will be playing the rest of this tour without regular captain Virat Kohli is likely to make Dhoni’s absence be felt to a large extent. In the absence of two biggest contemporary names of the Indian cricket, the onus will undoubtedly shift on their replacements.

As far as the series is concerned, India have already gained an unassailable 3-0 lead. However, with only seven ODIs remaining before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, they would be eager to not lose the winning momentum, especially in overseas conditions.

Post Edited By: Jatin Hasija
India tour of New Zealand 2019 MS Dhoni

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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