ICC World Cup 2019 | MS Dhoni’s knock against West Indies a top-rated one, says Jasprit Bumrah

India romped home to another victory against West Indies to acquire the second spot in the points table, moving a step closer to making it to the semi-finals. After a steady start, a middle-order collapse saw India reeling at 180 for 5 with more than 11 overs remaining. MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya came to India’s resuce and stitched a match-winning stand of 70 runs to help India post a challenging total. 

Dhoni looked a little sluggish at the start but accelerated beautifully towards the end and gave a testament to his astute batsmanship. Jasprit Bumrah was all praise for Dhoni’s knock and rated it as a top one as his brilliance weathered the storm and gave enough runs for the bowlers to put up a fight.  

"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," Bumrah said while speaking to Yuzvendra Chahal for BCCI TV.

Dhoni is undoubtedly one of the best ODI batsmen in contemporary cricket but his strike-rate has been questionable in last couple of years. Against West Indies too, he pulled things back in the death overs after bidding enough time initially. He backed his abilities and played out the entire last over to churn oout 16 runs, which included two monstrous sixes and a boundary. 

“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.