Glenn Maxwell dropped Dhoni off the first ball he had faced, and Justin Langer feels Australia lost the game then only. The former India captain, later, added 87 runs to his tally and helped India win the game by seven wickets at the MCG. The Australia head coach, at the post-match conference, said Dhoni showed the world how it gets done. He further mentioned Dhoni’s way of approaching the chase had been a tutorial for the Aussie batsmen.
Langer lauds veteran Dhoni
Australia didn’t have the best of summers, as they lost the Tests and ODIs against India. The three-match series, which began on a happy note for Australia didn’t end that way. They had won the first game at the SCG but lost following two in Adelaide and Melbourne. What stood out common in all of them? A half-century for Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Though in the Sydney game, he had scored 51 runs; MS remained unbeaten in his next two innings. In Adelaide, he scored 55*, while, in the series-decider at the ‘G’, Dhoni scored 87*.
Justin Langer, who watched everything from the sidelines said dropping Dhoni doesn’t lead you to win matches. He further added, not once but twice putting down Dhoni meant India is taking the series home.
“You drop MS Dhoni a couple of times and you don’t win. You don’t give great players chances. We did that tonight. We get down the 49th over and MS is there again. It was a great lesson for our squad. We talk about match winners, getting the job done – he showed us again. It is a great tutorial for our batters,” Langer said.
His (Dhoni) fitness is amazing – Langer
Meanwhile, Justin remained in awe of Dhoni’s fitness; saying if someone can keep wickets for 50 overs and then come out to bat and score 87*, helping his team to win the game as well, is appreciable.
“If MS Dhoni can come out and run between wickets like that after keeping wickets for 50 overs, that is the level the whole world should be aspiring to. I would be amazed if they (Australian players) don’t learn from playing against those guys. For a young squad, there is no better lesson and learning to rub shoulders with great players. I’m glad we have had the experience,” he said.