Fans lash out at Virat Kohli for leaving MS Dhoni stranded on 9,999 ODI runs

Virat Kohli and his men triumphed in the five-match ODI series against the Windies. They won the series by a scoreline of 3-1 and the Indian skipper was exceptional throughout. He registered three consecutive centuries in the first three games and played an unbeaten knock in the fifth ODI. But, one of the decisions that he made during the last match of the series has invited a new controversy now.

Team India was chasing down a mere total of just 105 runs in the 5th ODI. While it was expected that the Indian openers will finish off the chase all by themselves, Shikhar Dhawan got out early chopping one back on to his stumps. At this point in time, India still needed 99 runs more to win the match.

Virat could have sent in MS Dhoni

Being an easy chase, the Indian skipper had the option of sending in someone else to bat. It was a wonderful opportunity for MS Dhoni, who has been struggling with the bat to go out there and spend some quality time in the middle. A few runs under his belt before the all-important Australia series could have done a world of good to his confidence.

However, Virat, who is in some incredible form decided to walk in himself. He played an unbeaten knock of 33 runs off 29 balls as India won the game by 9 wickets. But, many felt that he didn’t require time in the middle given the kind of form he is in.

MS Dhoni fans seem to be utterly disappointed with this decision. The wicketkeeper-batsman has scored 9,999 ODI runs for India thus far and has 174 runs to his name from the time he played for the Asia XI. His fans wanted to see Dhoni get to the 10,000-run mark for India. But, this ‘selfish’ act from Kohli has left them infuriated. Some of the fans were also disappointed with Kohli not giving Bhuvneshwar Kumar enough bowling for him to get to 100 ODI wickets.

Here is how Twitterati unfairly reacted to Virat’s decision:

To clear the confusion, MS Dhoni has 10,173 ODI runs but 174 of those were in a strange tournament called the Afro-Asia Cup. For India, he has made 9999. It is a staggering number.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) November 1, 2018

@cricbuzz Kohli please get out and let dhoni complete 10000 runs. u already delayed Bhuvis 100 wik !!

— Deepak Shukla (@Dipak_shukla) November 1, 2018

Bro, i appreciate win & king kohli. Kohli is one of the greatest bastmen in world & i am not particularly pointing kohli. But it was low scoring game, match was under control & dhoni needed just 1 run for 10k. So he could've came early. It was my opinion. Agree or not your wish.

— Abhishek Bhattar (@ABHISHKBHATTAR) November 2, 2018

Well Kohli, The Leader? MS gave captaincy to Ganguly during his last cricketing moments. With jst 1 run short, @msdhoni should’ve been promoted to reach the historical 10k feat today ‘Not everyone can be be #Dhoni ‘
~MSD Fan-girl~
#INDvWI #INDvsWI #Kohli @imVkohli @BCCI #MSDhoni

— Divya Sharma (@divdivdiv) November 1, 2018

He could have also come in at no. 3. But instead, Virat Kohli came out when Shikhar got out.

— Abhijeet Swain (@abhitweets7) November 1, 2018

Dear @imVkohli why don't u send @msdhoni in no.3 position. Always he raised when he played at number 3. We need him for next world cup.

— Srinivas (@rshprasad) October 31, 2018

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