The Asia Cup is not panning out on an expected note for MS Dhoni. The former India skipper had entered the competition after a forgettable tour of England. And so far he has done little to prove his detractors wrong.
The World Cup-winning skipper has been attracting severe criticism for his poor batting since the tour of England. While the right-handed batsman managed to score handy runs, he coped criticism for his defensive approach.
In the second ODI, he had walked into bat when India needed 183 in 23 overs. But never during his stay, Dhoni tried to go for the shots. In the end, he was out after scoring 37 off 59 balls as India were all out for just 236 while chasing 323. He struggled in the third ODI too. Dhoni managed to score 42 but used up 66 deliveries for the same.
And Dhoni’s woes have continued in the ongoing tournament too. He was out for a duck against Hong Kong on Tuesday. And things went worse for him in the ongoing game against Pakistan when he missed a regulation catch behind the stumps. While it was not that easy but going by MS Dhoni’s standard, those catches should be taken.
In the 16th over, Shoaib Malik edged a Hardik Pandya delivery. The ball, however, was dipping as it approached Dhoni. But the catch was still not that tough. Dhoni stuck his right hand out with a dive to catch the ball but failed to hold on it. Luckily, Malik could not make much of that reprieve. He was batting on 26 at that time and could add only 17 before being run out.
Not surprisingly, the fans did not take long to take a dig at the veteran keeper-batsman. Here are some of the reactions:
#धोनी भैया ड्रीम 11 की जगह टीम 11 पर ध्यान दो कैच ड्राप हो रहा है देखना कहीं पन्त चांस ना खा जाए….#INDvsPAK #BAN-OLA
— जानू लेबर (@janu_lebar) September 19, 2018
Dhoni puts down a catch that is way too easy going by his standards. Don't want to say anything and just want to believe that it was one of those genuine misses that's a part of everyone's career! #INDvsPAK
— Vishwamitra (@SaysItSo) September 19, 2018
@msdhoni Bhayia yeh kya kiya? Ab isko manage karne k liye 20 run extra banana padega. #INDvsPAK #AsiaCup18
— Siddhartha Bhanu Roy (@SiddharthBhanuR) September 19, 2018
Bhaiyya ne JIJU ka catch tapkaya ???#AsiaCup2018 #PAKvIND #INDvsPAK
India for the win INSHAAALLAH ??????— SHAHID AFRIDI شاہد آفریدی ?? (@LOSTBOY_SHD) September 19, 2018
Best in the world Drops the catch#MSD#Asiacup#IndvsPak
— கோவில்பட்டிகாரன் (@mummoorthys) September 19, 2018
Oh…Dhoni..not you !!
#INDvsPAK— गैंडाजीवी (@GendaSwamy) September 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/imbalarajan/status/1042393802692947970?s=19
https://twitter.com/RunRun62ru/status/1042393805486354433?s=19
When was the last time you saw Dhoni drop a catch! That's #IndVsPak Babyyy..
Anything can happen!#AsiaCup2018— Pragmatic Saad (@Saad15) September 19, 2018
Wts wrong wth dhoni ? #INDvsPAK
— M@N!$H? (@UrstrulyManish_) September 19, 2018
MSD not having a good time, perhaps a bit low on confidence. #INDvPAK #INDvsPAK #AsiaCup2018
— M SatyaKam (@satyakam92) September 19, 2018
Dhoni….. ki ….unhoni ?#INDvPAK #INDvsPAK
— acer (@acc2467) September 19, 2018