ICC World Cup 2019: Did MS Dhoni Really Spit Blood During The Match Against England?

Former India, skipper MS Dhoni, has attracted a lot of criticism for his batting in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2019. He has failed to score runs in the last three games which have hurt the free flow of runs in the death overs. Despite that, India have managed to secure a semifinal berth beating Bangladesh by 28 runs on July 2 (Tuesday) at Edgbaston in Birmingham.

Dhoni has received a lot of flak for his batting

Chasing 314 runs, Bangladesh started very well with the top-order batters getting runs, but India slowly crawled back with Hardik Pandya picking a few wickets. Shakib Al Hasan scored yet another half-century as he crossed his 500-run mark in this World Cup. Although he got out, Mohammad Saifuddin played a blinder of an innings before Jasprit Bumrah cleaned off the tail.

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Batting first, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul gave India an excellent start adding 180 runs for the first wicket. Rohit brought his fourth century in style while Rahul got to his fifty before Bangladesh struck back. Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant got starts, but Mustafizur Rahman’s double strike left India stranded. He bowled outstanding at the death to return with five wickets as MS Dhoni once again failed to take on the bowlers. At one stage, it looked like India were in line for a 350+ score, but a brilliant comeback by the Tigers and Dhoni’s inability to find the boundaries helped them post only 314 runs. However, it was enough for Bangladesh as they fell 28 runs short.

Soo after another slow inning, MS Dhoni was at the receiving end of all the criticisms. Many have questioned his intent and capabilities to collect runs freely and quickly like he used to do in his initial years. Meanwhile, Dhoni had received the most flak after the game against England where he along with Kedar Jadhav, could only manage three boundaries and one six in the last five years. Dhoni remained unbeaten on 41 off 32 balls but what went unnoticed was that he was battling significant pain while batting.

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MS Dhoni suffered blows on his thumb twice in the game, first while wicket-keeping and then again while batting. Pictures of the veteran cricketer sucking his thumb and spitting blood emerged on the internet amidst all the criticisms which earned him another spell of praise and love from his fans for his sheer commitment.