Bharat Arun Defends MS Dhoni For His Slow Knock Against Afghanistan

MS Dhoni’s constant struggle to farm the strike and thus his strike-rate has been a matter of concern for Team India for quite some time now. Few fifties in the ongoing year put those concerns to bed but his knock against Afghanistan has once again brought his struggles in spotlight. Against Afghanistan, Dhoni struggled to score (28 off 52 balls) while skipper Virat Kohli hit a fluent 67 of 63 deliveries.

Dhoni came out to bat when India lost Vijay Shankar and were reeling at 122 go 3. As usual, Dhoni took his time early on and was playing at a strike-rate well below 100. With the slow pitch not helping Dhoni’s cause either, the veteran batsman just could not get going. He was eventually out after scoring 28 runs from 52 balls. The wicketkeeper-batsman was out stumped off Rashid Khan while trying to up the ante.

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Ahead of the match against West Indies, India’s bowling coach Bharat Arun has now defended the veteran batsman. Arun said that Dhoni should not be compared with Kohli on strike rate.

“I think Virat Kohli is probably the number one batsman across all formats. So I think to compare anybody to the way he plays is not right,”  Arun said at the media interaction.

Arun was further asked whether the team-management has talked to Dhoni about his slow batting. In reply, the former India bowler said that while the coaches remain in constant touch with the players, he cannot divulge the details of the same.

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“There is a constant dialogue between all the batsmen, the support staff, the batting coach, the head coach — Ravi Shastri has a constant dialogue with all the coaches. I can’t really get into the brass tacks of what we discuss, but yes if I have to answer your question, there is a constant dialogue for us to improve,” Arun said.

“I think according to the situation and the condition of the wicket, we were able to successfully defend the total that we put up. And had we probably lost a wicket at that stage (when Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav were batting), then things would have turned out differently. So I don’t think it’s too much of a concern for us right now,” he added.

India, meanwhile, will be looking to continue their unbeaten run in the World Cup when they take on West Indies. The Men in Blue are still unbeaten after five games. A win against West Indies will all but seal their passage to the last four.

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