ICC World Cup 2019: Sachin Tendulkar Unhappy With MS Dhoni And Kedar Jadhav's Slow Partnership

India escaped a tough challenge as they beat Afghanistan by 11 runs in a thriller of a game in this ICC World Cup 2019 at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav failed to get going in the middle overs which didn’t go well with India legend Sachin Tendulkar.

Tendulkar criticised MS Dhoni-Kedar Jadhav slow partnership

India banked on their death bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami to defend 224 runs despite a stunning show from Mohammad Nabi. Nabi lacked support from the other end despite his fifty to finish on the losing side. Shami picked a hattrick in the last over after Bumrah set it up with 16 needed off the last over. Previously, Indian batsmen struggled to get going on a sluggish Southampton wicket. The 31-40 overs fetched only 40 odd runs while only 49 runs came from the last ten overs.

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Sachin Tendulkar, in particular, pointed out the partnership between MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav, saying that the duo was just too slow in their approach against Afghanistan’s spinners.

“I felt slightly disappointed, it could have been much better. I was also not happy with the partnership between Kedar and Dhoni, it was very slow. We batted 34 overs of spin bowling and scored 119 runs. This was one area where we didn’t look comfortable at all. There was no positive intent,” Sachin said to India Today.

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Furthermore, Sachin Tendulkar said that Kedar Jadhav was under pressure as he didn’t get any game time before this match. The former cricketer said that they couldn’t match with the required run-rate and reason why Jadhav came under pressure. MS Dhoni and Jadhav were part of a 57-run partnership for the fifth wicket, but they also played out 84 balls between themselves. Dhoni made 24 off 36 in that partnership while Jadhav scored 31 off 48 balls which slowed down India’s proceedings in the middle overs.

“Kedar Jadhav was under pressure, he had not had an outing up until now. He needed someone to take charge of the situation early on but that did not happen. Both Kedar and Dhoni were not able to play at the required strike rate that they would have wanted. Those in-between overs could have been better and that is why Kedar was under a bit of pressure,” Sachin Tendulkar concluded.