Was Very Surprised That MS Dhoni Came In To Bat At No. 7 In WC: Yuvraj Singh

MS Dhoni’s batting position in this year’s World Cup semifinal against New Zealand continues to invite criticism. Team India’s journey in the tournament came to an end after a close 18-run loss to the Black Caps in a thrilling semifinal. The Men in Blue were looking favourites to go through after restricting New Zealand to a modest 239. However, they could not come up with a good performance with the bat and were all out for 221.

Inside three overs, India were reeling at 5 for 3 with Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli back in the hut. While the majority was expecting MS Dhoni to come out and stop the rot, India sent Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya ahead of him.

Also Read: The Management Should Back Rishabh Pant To Regain Form – Virender Sehwag

By the time MS Dhoni came to the crease at number seven, India were already five wickets down for 71. The veteran wicketkeeper-batsman did revive India’s hopes along with Ravindra Jadeja but could not finish the game. He scored 50 and added 116 runs with Ravindra Jadeja who scored 77 but it was not enough to take the team over the line.

Since that defeat, quite a number of former cricketers have said that MS Dhoni should have batted higher. And now former India batsman Yuvraj Singh has also joined the bandgwagon. The World Cup-winning star said that he was surprised to see MS Dhoni at number seven.

“I was very surprised that MS came in to bat at No. 7. I felt that he should have batted higher being the most experienced. I don’t know what the team management thought. Anyways it’s done now so” Yuvraj Singh told India Today.

MS Dhoni, meanwhile, has not played any competitive game since the World Cup defeat. He has missed the series against West Indies, South Africa and has reportedly made himself unavailable for the Bangladesh series too.